Military Science
by Imperial Fiction
Summary: With war on the horizon, only with the help of the mighty Enforcers can Jimmy and his friends save their parents from the new League of Villains. Rated T for Violence and Strong Language. Complete! Read & Review!
1. The New Kid

**Military Science**

**By: Naraku's Reincarnation**

**Chapter 1:**

**The New Kid**

**(Chinese) **"**English" **'**Thoughts'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of its characters.**

**Author's Note: The setting is a few weeks after the whole Jimmy-Timmy Power Hour Two fiasco. Let's just say that the normal cast is 12. The year is 2002.

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A figure stood in a dimly lit room before a large, circular pad. The pad started to glow an eerie blue and an image projected out of it. The light filled the entire chamber with a fluorescent blue light that gave a somewhat heavenly appeal to the once dreary chamber. The figure kneeled down and bowed. (Almighty Jade Emperor, ruler of Universe W-12, what is it that you wish for your Enforcer to slay?) it asked with its head bowed. Upon close inspection, the figure turned out to be an Asian, 12 year old boy dressed in traditional Chinese Imperial robes. His outermost robe was solid black with a red dragon on the back. The inner robe was also black, and there was a black sash tied around his waist elegantly with a Chinese broadsword strapped to it. His eyes were gold, but showed both calm and malice, traits not commonly held by a teenager. Even stranger were the dog ears that were on his head. His hair was silver and flowed freely down his back.

The projected image resolved into the face of an old, Asian man with the stereotypical Fu Manchu beard/mustache style. (The Council wishes for you to venture to Universe N-12,) the figure identified as the Jade Emperor, supreme deity in Chinese mythology, bellowed as his voice resonated against the chamber walls. (There is trouble afoot. Go now, Young Warrior and keep those who are close to your contact and the contact himself alive at all costs. I wish for no human casualties.)

The young soldier stood up. (And who precisely is my contact, milord?) he asked, his voice mature and monotone, thus increasing the image of a soldier instead of a teenager.

The Jade Emperor's face flickered once before vanishing completely, and reverted the chamber back to its previous form of mystery and danger. His voice, however, came out of nowhere and answered the young warrior. (His name is James Isaac Neutron.)

* * *

A boy wearing a red T-shirt with a picture of an atom on the front turned to a boy wearing a blue Ultralord shirt and an obese boy wearing a striped orange shirt. "Hey Sheen, Carl, want to hit the Candy Bar after school?"

The obese lad, Carl, smiled to his friend. "Sure thing, Jimmy, but don't we have that History fair Project to work on?" He asked

The boy in the blue shirt, Sheen looked over to Carl. "Pfft! So what! It's just a bunch of dead guys and their accomp-i-lish-i-ments!"

The boy in red, Jimmy, shook his head. "Don't worry guys," he said reassuringly, "I've got it all covered. We can go to my lab tomorrow and work on it. I'm thinking of doing either the Sengoku Period of Japan, the Industrial Era of England, or the Sung Dynasty of China. How about you guys?"

Before they could answer, their teacher, Ms. Fowl, came into the classroom. "Alright, children settle down! Craw! We have a new student and he's overseas from China, but he says that they study English there so he can speak it. Now please give him a warm American welcome! Craw!"

A young boy walked through the door. He was wearing a white dress shirts and black dress pants. His hair was black and tied back like the men of the Manchu Empire of China did. His eyes were a dark brown and were calm and analyzing. He spoke with a slightly strong accent. "Hello, American students," he said, his voice coming out as strong and mature. "I am Shaojia Wang of Beijing and I am 12 years old. I am not too familiar with the American ways so if you may help me to understand your culture, I would be most grateful."

Ms. Fowl clapped her hands and walked to the front of the class. "Very good, Shaojia, now please have a seat behind Jimmy. Jimmy, please raise your hand." Jimmy raised his hand and looked at Shaojia closer. He had a bamboo lunch bag, and his eyes showed concentration and caution.

Jimmy turned to the new student and extended his hand. "Hello Shaojia, I'm Jimmy, Jimmy Neutron."

Shaojia looked at the hand cautiously before grabbing it and shaking it in the American fashion. He was surprised of the name of his new acquaintance but hid it very well. "Hello Jimmy. Tell me, what are we doing in this class today?"

"We're about to do projects for History class. This year's topic is 'Great Eras in History.' Do you have an idea on what you might be interested in doing?"

Shaojia took his seat and pondered the question for a while. "I do not know entirely about this 'History project' but I suppose I could do the Ming Dynasty of China. A grand era it was for China, untouched by foreign wars." Jimmy nodded his head in agreement.

Shaojia looked around before noticing that no one was looking at him. He rolled up his left sleeve to reveal a watch. He pressed the 'alarm' button three times before it chirped. 'And so it begins.'

* * *

Cindy and Libby ate their lunch at their usual table with the boys (much to their feigned disgust) chatting over the new student. "Hey Libs, what do you think of the new guy?" Cindy asked.

Libby looked over at her best friend. "Well he's alright I guess but he is like so professional, girl! He comes to his first day of school in a dress shirt and pants combo? Uh-uh, not even Jimmy came to school dressed like THAT!"

Jimmy frowned. "Hey, lay off him guys, he's from overseas and I guess he didn't understand the basis for American casual wear."

Cindy looked over to her secret crush, and frowned. "I guess you're right for once, Nerd-tron. At least he speaks English."

Carl looked around the cafeteria to see where the topic of their conversation was eating. "Hey Jim, where's the new kid anyway?"

"Yeah, I kinda' wanna' ask him if he knows any karate moves!" he screamed before attempting to karate chop the table. "Ouch!" Everyone rolled their eyes.

Jimmy looked around the lunchroom. Finally, he found Shaojia being surrounded by Butch and a few of his other friends. "Oh no," he muttered. His friends looked in his direction to see Butch pulling back his arm for a punch. When Butch finally threw his fist, Shaojia put his hand up to block it with his palm. Shaojia then cocked his arm slightly at the elbow and thrust it forward, sending Butch into a nearby pillar. Shaojia went back to his lunch without another word.

Cindy, Libby, and Jimmy gawked at the new student's initiative for combat as well as his nonchalant form. Sheen was almost bursting with excitement, and Carl laughed at Butch's stunned form against the pillar. "He beat Butch like it was nothing," said Cindy.

Jimmy walked towards Shaojia's table nervously. Afterall, he didn't want to get"H-Hey, Shaojia," he said.

Shaojia continued to eat his lunch, rice porridge with duck sauce. (A/N: It's good, trust me!) "Good afternoon, Mr. Neutron," he said without looking up from his food.

"That, um, was a nice move you did there. Um, where did you learn that?"

Shaojia looked from his premade lunch and answered, "I was the son of a Shaolin Master. Father was Master Wang Suhoy. I doubt you would have heard of him, though. He taught me the arts for five years before he and Mother died."

Jimmy was surprised and a little shocked. "But where do you live?" By then, his other friends had arrived at Shaojia's table, their lunches already devoured.

Shaojia shrugged. "I have moved into the house on Edison Street, house number 5902. The United Nations secured me with US $200,000 for shelter and other essentials. I've been here for about five days. I have a job at that American restaurant, McSpanky's I think. I mop the floors for $5 dollars an hour. I'm expecting my belongings from China to be here anyday now."

Cindy smiled. "Hey that's where all of us live! We can probably help you move in!"

Sheen was ecstatic. "Yeah! You can teach me that Kung Fu stuff you did, too!" Once, again, Sheen attempted to do a martial arts move, this time a roundhouse kick. All he did was make himself dizzy. "I don't fell too good."

Shaojia smiled. "Thank you! Back at home, people always say that you Americans were selfish slobs, but I am so glad they are wrong!" The four friends chuckled nervously.

Suddenly the bell for lunch rang. "Well, I'll see you later, then Shaojia," he said before leaving. The others did so as well and left for their next class, Math (which was still with Ms. Fowl.)

Shaojia packed up his lunch and sighed. 'So far so good.'

* * *

After school ended, Carl, Sheen, and Jimmy climbed in to Jimmy's hover car. They had decided that they would go to the Candy Bar, much to Carl's dismay. Cindy and Libby were walking home talking about... whatever girls talk about. "That's sad about the new kid's parents," said Cindy as she neared her home.

Libby nodded. "Girl, I know, right? Wait, didn't he say he on our street?"

Cindy nodded, and then she saw someone down the street. "Hey Libs, there he is!" Shaojia was talking to a mover who was looking over a contract. Seven other movers came out of the house the two men were talking in front of. There were three boxes. Then Cindy noticed who's house he was next to. "He's right next door to Nerd-tron!"

Shaojia then saw the girls coming his way. "Afternoon, ladies. It seems as luck is with me. The Chinese government has just shipped over Father's belongings. I would sincerely accept your help if you are willing to give it. There are only three boxes left. I was not expecting you today." he said timidly.

"It's okay, no problem," said Cindy. The girls walked over to the pile of boxes. It was marked with two elegantly drawn Chinese characters. Cindy looked at one of them. "Hey, Shaojia, what's in this box?"

Shaojia looked up from the paperwork he was signing. "I think that box has my clothes in it. Please take it into the second room on the left side of the hall when you first enter." Cindy and Libby nodded and they both picked it up and started towards the house as Shaojia put his signature on the paper and gave the mover his payment. He then went over and picked up two other boxes.

The three entered the house, boxes in hand. Libby looked at all of the decorations adorning the one-story house. "Wow, this house looked small on the outside but it looks like a palce on the inside!" Indeed it was. When they first stepped in, there were wall scrolls on each side of the hallway. The first room to the left was a shoe clost and the second room was Shaojia's bedroom. On the right was a bathroom and another hallway, which Shaojia said led to the kitchen. The hallway itself led to the den, which, from what they could see, was a study, a living room, and a rec room combined. The den had a large painting of a dragon and a tiger fighting with the name of the artist written neatly in Chinese characters. There was a 25" flat screen TV with wall scrolls at each side of the TV, and a couch was facing it a few feet away. A silk Chinese fan hung above the TV. Behind the couch was a desk with a calligraphy set on it, and there was a low level coffee table in front of the couch.

Shaojia brushed the compliment aside. "Thank you. Father also worked for the government as an accountant at the Law Office of Beijing. He only taught Kung Fu part-time." He led the girls into his bedroom. The master room was quite modest in size but the room itself was worthy of the old emperors! The bed was a simple futon with a Nine Dragons on the sheet. The floor appeared to be mode of bamboo. There was a closet opposite to the bed with wall scrolls on either side of it. There were two swords, a Chinese broadsword and a Chinese straightsword, hanging on a rack to the left of the closet. There was a large bansai plant at two corners of the room. At the corner on the far left was a vase containing several bamboo staffs. On the far right was another vase, this one containing umbrellas.

Cindy gazed at all of the decorations before remembering where she was. She and Libby set the box down next to where Shaojia placed his. "So, now what?" she asked.

Shaojia made his way out of the room. "For now, please, make yourselves comfortable in the main room. I wish to change," he requested, a miniscule blush touching his cheeks before fading alomst instantly. The girls nodded stiflfy before scurrying out of the room, embarassed as well. Moments later, Shaojia exited his room in traditional Chinese robes. the outer robe was black, but had a red dragon on the back of it. The shoulders were also tinted with red and it continued in astreak downwards along the middle of the robe. The robe's cuffs were red as well. The inner robe was completely black as well as the pants, and there was a black sash tied around his waist.

He walked into the main room with an elegant stride and had a seat on the couch. Upon entering the room, one would notice there were actually three couches, forming 3/4 of a square with the one not facing another couch looking at the TV. Shaojia sat down in the couch across fom the girls and said, "I thank you very much for your assistance.Would you like a drink?"

Cindy shook her head. "No thanks," she replied politely. "We'll be going home now. Bye!" Shaojia led the girls outside but stopped dead when he saw that floating green eggs with spears were falling from the sky and entering houses. "Yolkians!"

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**Read and Review please!**


	2. Revelations

**Chapter 2:**

**Revelations**

**(Chinese) **"**English" **'**Thoughts'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of its characters.**

**Jimmy: Hey! Yolkians! That wasn't in the script!**

**Cindy: If you actually read it, it says so on page 1,957 in paragraph 8, sub-section O, sentence 5. 'Yolkians will be in story.'**

**Libby: You tell 'em girl!**

**Sheen: You tell 'em Libs! (tries to hug Libby)**

**Libby: (steps to the side) Hands off Sheen!**

**Sheen: Ow!**

**Carl: Can't we all just get along!**

**King Goobot: BOO!**

**The gang: AHH!**

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Carl slurped down another of Sam's 'Triple Chocolate Heart Stopper Deluxe' milk shakes and sighed contently as Jimmy and Sheen did the same. "Ya' know," Carl aid, "maybe this wasn't such a bad idea after all."

The three boys slouched in their seats, rubbing their now-happy stomachs. Their health may have gone down several notches but they were happy. Not even the Yolkians floating from the sky could bother them. 'Wait a minute...' Jimmy thought. "YOLKIANS!" he screamed. Jimmy ran to Sam's counter, slapped his money into Sam's shaking hands, and rushed out the door, followed by Carl and Sheen.

They all got into Jimmy's hover car and drove towards their neghborhood. "Why are the floaty egg people back Jimmy!" screamed a confused Sheen.

"I don't know," replied Jimmy, "but by Einstein's ghost, I'm gonna' find out!" He slammed his foot onto the acceleration pedal and flew away, leaving an army of Yolkians to reap destruction on downtown Retroville.

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"Get down!" Shaojia yelled as he rushed into the house, his accent turning into a very American accent. It went ignored as Cindy and Libby obeyed and went prone against the bamboo floors. He emerged wielding the Chinese broadsword from his room, the blade seeming to drool at the thought of drawing blood. "You two, hurry inside. Neutron should be here shortly!" They reluctantly complied and ran into his room. 'I thought I had time!' he thought. 'So much for stealth! Can't those imbeciles at recon do ANYTHING right!' He sighed, 'Let's see, the main invasion force is gone and there are only 20 eggs left. This is gonna' be too easy.'

He ran towards the fiveYolkians advancing toward his home and drove his sword between the eye stocks of the lead Yolkian soldier, right where the brain would have been. It let loose a blood-curdling scream as it turned a sickly gray color and died. The remaining four soldiers, enraged but mostly terrified of their comrades execution, dropped their electro-staffs and ran, all the while screaming like little girls.

Meanwhile, inside Shaojia's room, Cindy and Libby sat on Shaojia's futon. "What are we gonna' do Cind? We usually have Jimmy tell us what to do when the Yolkians invade! Why are those guys here anyway?"

Cindy bit her lower lip. "I-I don't know Libby." She then steeled her resolve. "But just because Neutron isn't here, doesn't mean we're just going to just sit around and do nothing."

Libby frowned. "But what can we do? It's not like we''ve got weapons like Shaojia!"

Cindy hopped onto her feet. "Thanks for the idea Libs!" She raced to Shaojia's remaining sword and put her right hand around the black, metatl hilt.

Libby slapped her forehead in utter frustration. "That's not what I meant! We don't even know how to use these things!" Despite her words, she got up as well and walked over to Cindy.

Cindy tried to lift up the sword with one hand, then two hands, but she had no luck whatsoever at lifting the it. "What is this thing made of! Swords can't be this dang heavy!" Finally, she managed to lift the sword from the rack and held it with much difficulty in both hands. She d slowly put the sword on the ground and, miraculously, it didn't damage anything. She put her hands on her knees and panted, exhausted from the force necessary to just lift the sword. "Or maybe they can!"

Libby sighed and shook her head slowly. "I don't think Shaojia's gonna' like you cutting his head off with his own sword, no offense Cindy. Let's just use those staffs over there," she said, pointing towards the staffs in the corner. Cindy nodded and the two raced out of the house to help Shaojia.

When they got outside, however, they dropped their staffs in shock and fear. Shaojia's sword was dripping green blood, and there were dead Yolkians everywhere with the exception of one. The survivor was in its puddle form, the armor suit that gave it shape destroyed beyond human repair. "Now, I'm going to ask you one more time," Shaojia spat, his accent completely replaced by a normal American drawl. "Tell me who's pulling the strings, and I don't have you for breakfast tomorrow!" He jabbed the sword threateningly at the Yolkian, right above its left eye.

It screamed, and pleaded for its life, "Please almighty human conqueror! Spare this simple brother in arms and I shall tell you all you wish from me! Just don't hurt me!"

Shaojia smirked. "Good, now sleep tight. Questions start first thing in the morning, but if you try to get back in that tin can you guys call armor, you won't be having eyes! Got that?" It did its best interpretation of a nod and closed its eyes immediately. He then looked sorrowfully at the scared girls. "I'm... sorry you had to see that. I promise I'll answer any questions you have but later."

Just then, Jimmy and his friends finally arrived in the hover car. Jimmy walked cautiously through the bodies of the Yolkian soldiers as Carl and Sheen vomited. "Wh-what happened here?" he asked, his voice coarse.

Cindy walked up to Jimmy, her eyes blank. "The Yolkians, Shaojia fought them off. I think they kidnapped out parents again," she sobbed and Jimmy went to comfort her.

Jimmy then noticed the change in Shaojia's accent and the blood on his sword. "Who... who are you?"

Shaojia shook his head, "Not right now. First, you should get all of the kids together and tell them what's happened. I'm not too sure myself but tell tehm we have a Yolkian prisoner and the adults have been captured. Once you've gotten the social situation stabilized, come into my house, and then we'll talk." He turned around and walked off without another word, his outer robe flapping like a cape at his sharp turn to give him an evil and menacing image.

Jimmy bit his lower lip and nodded. 'The most important thing to do now is to make sure the other kids were alright,' he thought.

* * *

With the help of his friends, and his mechanical dog, Goddard, Jimmy was able to round up all of Retroville's kids and had rallied them up in the streets. He, along with Cindy, Sheen, Carl, Libby, and Goddard, stood on the roof of his house. After inspecting all of the houses, it was confirmed tha t the Yolkians did indeed capture the parents once more. "Um, alright settle down everyone!" he yelled over the murmurings of the 200 or so kid population. "Okay, as I''m sure you have been told, the Yolkians have abducted our parents... again. Now I'll have the answers to all of your in due time, but first you must calm down!" Everyone obeyed and the crowd made themselves as comfortable as they could get. "Good," he continued, "we''l all plan things out in the morning. Just make yourselves comfortable until then." He then turned to Cindy and the others. "Well let's get to Shaojia's. He's got some explaining to do." They nodded and made their ways off of the roof and towards Shaojia's home.

When they got there, Shaojia was sitting in his living room, a cup of tea in hand. "Please, make yourselves comfortable. It's going to be the only chance you get at it for a while probably," he sighed. They did as they were told. "Tea?"

Jimmy shook his head. "No, but-"

"Explanations?" Shaojia interrupted.

Jimmy sighed. "Yes, please, that would be nice, but a glass of soda would be fine."

"Very funny, Neutron," Shaojia retorted. "Looks like recon got his sense of humor wrong too," he muttered. He reclined in his position on his couch. "Alright, first off, I'm not who you think I am as I'm sure you've noticed. I'll just tell you the things that are true. My name really is Shaojia and my parents really are dead. I am really from Beijing but I am not a student exchange student. Everyone got that so far?" They all nodded. "Good, now you all remember Timmy Turner and his universe, right?" They all nodded but were now more confused. "Well, it turns out there are a whole bunch of universes, 5,792 to be exact. All of them are ruled by who Christians and Jews call God and Muslims call Allah. Now they call him the 'King of Kings' for a reason; there are a whole bunch of gods ruling under him. The reason I 'don't' speak with an accent is that God prefers the English language since most of his religion's followere were from Europe, Sapin and England specifiaclly, so that means that he wants all people working for him to know how to speak English and, I work under him. Now, I am from Universe W-12. It was labeled W and twelve because God says so. Actually, it's classified as 12 and and I'm not too sure of its significance, just like all of the other universes. The 'W' is there because I am the official protector of my universe. The same goes for your universe since Jimmy is the unofficial protector. Any questions? No? Good! Now as I was saying, I am the protector of Universe W-12. The universes were all created simultaneously and thus became its greatest flaw. If one Universe crumbled, the others fall like dominoes, giant, cosmic dominoes. Now the Solar System is virtually the same in all universes, while the other planets and systems are different in each universe. However, at some point in time, the history of each Earth becomes different from the Earths. Essentially, if one Earth is destroyed, the rest of the universe will crumble, and it will spiral into a domino effect. In my universe, the demons and monsters from Asian culture actually exist." He dug into his inner robe to pull out an amulet and pressed the symbol in the middle. He glowed an unearthly white and a new Shaojia appeared. This one had fierce gold eyes, claws, fangs, white hair, and most noticeably, dog ears. The five Universe N-12 children gasped. "I am a demon, half-dog demon to be exact. My father was a demon lord and my mother was a human ambassador. In my universe, demon society is virtually unknown to the world of humans with the exception of key govenment officials. This amulet allows me to look human if I need to go into human society for any reason. I am called an Enforcer and I am a type of warrior who goes around solving 'problems' for other universes. Most universes do not have a warrior who is strong enough to protect it so many warriors from my realm and other realms are chosen to become Holy Men, which are basically bodyguards for other universes. I have jurisdiction over my Universe, your Universe, and Universes P-75, N-62, and Q-75. I think I covered everything. Any questions?"

The other kids just sat there dumbfounded. Jimmy was the first to come out of his stupor. "Um, not... really. So from what I understand, each universe is ruled by one single deity, right?"

"Yes, and they all meet in a grand assembly called the Council of Deities if they think their may be problems in their universes. They must first consult with God, Allah, Jehovah, whatever you want to call Him, and then they send one of the Enforcers to solve it. The gods are prohibited in interfering with mortal affairs so they jired us to babysit for them. Anything else?" They all shook their heads. "Excellent. We should get some sleep. It's about 11 o' clock I think." They all agreed and went to their homes to rest.

* * *

The next morning had crept slowly as the children arose from their slumbers. Jimmy and Shaojia relayed the information from the previous night's conversation to them an hour ago, and they were still trying to figure it out. Shaojia (now in his demon form), Jimmy, and the others were in Jimmy's kitchen making plans on how to proceed. "Well," Shaojia started, "since it is your universe we're in Neutron, I am giving you full command to this mission."

Jimmy reluctantly accepted the position and turned to the others. "Alright so what do you think we should do now? I know the Yolkians have kidnapped our parents, but it just seems to simple. Shouldn't they know by now to try a new tactic?"

Shaojia looked towards the ceiling in Jimmy's kitchen. "I interrogated our Yolkian friend earlier this morning. He says his name is Ibsol Nravalok. He's in my kitchen right now right on top of the counter. He says that there is a civil war going on on the Yolkian home world, Yolkivana so I doubt that your old pal Goobot's behind it all. Actually, that's the funny thing. He says-" before he could continue, the sound of engines roaring and children screaaming pierced the air. They all rushed out and got into Jimmy's hover car with the exception of Shaojia who ran with his super demonic speed. The sound led them as far as downtown Retroville, and it turned out to be about 5 Yolkian capitol ships deploying around 2 thousand Yolkian troops in the outskirts of Retroville. From their postion in the sky (Shaojia was on a flag pole) they could see, with the help of Jimmy's binoculars, their two greatest foes... Dr. Finbarr Calamitous and King Goobot of Yolkivanva along with Eustace Strych in the bridge of the head capitol ship. Shaojia rolled his eyes. "He says that it's a new League of Villains."

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**That's all for now! Read & Review please! I practically live off of them!**


	3. Invasion and Hiding

**Chapter 3:**

**Invasion and Hiding**

**(Chinese) **"**English" **'**Thoughts'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of its characters.

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**

"Let's get outta' here," said Shaojia as he positioned himself to jump off of the flag pole he was positioned on. Jimmy nodded and raced Shaojia back to the neighborhood. When they arrived, Shaojia yelled over the murmuring of the disgruntled crowd. "Neutron! Get these kids into my backyard and have them enter the shed. Have each one say 'Tooth in tiger' when they enter!" Jimmy nodded and passed on the orders to his friends who helped spread the message. Though reluctant, each kid did as they were told and moved single-file into the shed in Shaojia's backyard. Only Jimmy and Shaojia remained.

"What was all of that about?" asked Jimmy.

Shaojia was monitoring the Yolkian capitol ships, and, much to his displeasure, they were still dropping eggs. He then turned to Jimmy. "We needed to evacuate the city. Like you, I also have an underground base. Go to your base and stuff all of your things into that hypercube thing of yours and meet me in my backyard." Without waiting for Jimmy to ask any questions, Shaojia ran into his house.

Jimmy nodded, despite the fact that he had no one to talk to, and he rushed to his lab. Once inside he started stuffing his inventions into his hypercube. Goddard barked to grab his master's attention. "What is it, boy?" Jimmy asked. Goddard opened his chest compartment to show his TV screen. On it was a video showing the 4,500 plus Yolkians marching through the streets of Retroville, led by none other than the new League of Villains. Marching along side the Yolkian army was a group of 500 or so mercenaries, more than likely hired by Eustace Strych to do his dirty work. Nethertheless, that meant that it was at least 4,000 enemy soldiers marching towards them, and they only had about 200 kids and a demon to fight them. "This is not good," muttered Jimmy. "This is not good at all. Come on, boy, we need to get to Shaojia's. He's a soldier so he might know what to do... hopefully."

* * *

Shaojia waited by his shed with the vase of staffs in hand. His two swords were strapped to his side. Finally, Jimmy entered his backyard. Shaojia scoffed. "Took you long enough! Let's go! There are about 4,000 soldiers and I can't take all of them on!"

"Wait, how do you know about that?" Jimmy asked as he and Goddard raced towards the shed.

"I'm a dog demon, remember? I can pick up smells that humans can't and believe me, the scent of an army of aliens and mercs really stands out when there are only two people left in the city," Shaojia replied as he opened the shed door.

Jimmy nodded and entered the shed with him. Shaojia closed his eyes and said, "Tooth in tiger!" The shed glowed an eerie white light but soon disappeared. Now, they were in some type of underground base. The white light was a teleporter of sorts as there was no sight of an elevator. The other kids were huddled on the bamboo floor in front of a large pagoda-like structure. "Follow me," he said to Jimmy as he waded through the terrified crowd. Jimmy followed him until they reached the doors of the pagoda. "Kai men!" he shouted. The doors swung open to reveal a large foyer. Incense hung in the air and rushed to greet the outside air.

"What was that?" Jimmy asked as he and Shaojia entered the building.

"It's Mandarin Chinese for "Open the door.' Most of this base is voice-activated for security measures and half of the codes are in Chinese, mostly door codes." Jimmy nodded. "Let's get everyone inside first. I knew this would happen sooner or later but not this soon. I've got a roster for everyone's sleeping quarters. Round everyone up will ya' and get them inside of the foyer. Get your friends and meet me on the balcony. Just go up the stairs." Jimmy nodded and they went off on their own agendas.

* * *

About thirty minutes later, Shaojia, Jimmy, Cindy, Sheen, Carl, Libby, and Goddard met at the balcony of the second floor of the pagoda. "Alright, so will someone explain to me what's going on?" asked Cindy. Shaojia and Jimmy shared knowing glances and Jimmy turned to Goddard.

"Goddard," he said, "show clip Inv-1125, please." Goddard barked in acknowledgement and opened his chest compartment once more. Again, the video of the advancing enemy soldiers played for the group of unofficial leaders to see. "Shaojia says that there are about 3500 of these guys." He motioned for Shaojia to continue.

Shaojia nodded and did so. "Yes and your parents are nowhere near this system. The Yolkians must have taken them back to the home world for bait. They know that this small army may will be enough to stop us. From what I have learned about your pasts from the briefings I was given before I got here, Calamitous and King Goobot have teamed up again. Now with Eustace's financial support, they hope to do away with Jimmy... permanently." They gasped. "See those mercs? They've got guns. Lots and lots of guns. The invasion last night was more or less a crude recon mission. I managed to milk some more intel from our good friend Ibsol. He's in the detention center upstairs. He says that there are about 40,000 Loyalists in Goobot's fleet around Earth and Calamitous has 6,500 robots on three Yolkian capitol ships. Eustace, however, has devoted his entire work force to Retroville. We get these 500 mercs out of the way, we cut off one of the chicken's heads. Questions?" Sheen raised his hand frantically and jumped up and down like an excited 5 year old. Shaojia slapped his forehead. "Yes, Mr. Estevez, what is it?"

Sheen finally calmed down. "How are we going to fight them? Are we gonna' stay here and hide until they go away or are we going to get giant robot suits and smash them to pieces! Oh, just like in Ultralord Episode 552, Attack of the Mutant Breakfast Men!" Sheen then commenced to quote the entire episode, word for word.

Shaojia groaned and massaged his temples. Carl walked up to him. "Don't worry about Sheen, Shaojia. He's just in one of his little episodes. He'll come out of it in a few seconds."

"Oh goody," Shaojia grumbled. He looked at Jimmy and Cindy. "Hey, Neutron, Vortex, since you two are the most frequent leaders, what do you have to say about this? I vote for a guerilla assault."

Jimmy looked at Cindy. "What do you think? I know almost as much about war as you do, Cindy. A guerilla assault might be good."

Cindy reluctantly nodded. "Fine, but who's going to do it? The only people who can actually fight are me and Shaojia and I can't use any weapons."

Shaojia nodded. "Well let's just train these kids first. For now we should probably pick out our heads of power. It's evident that each of you here has your own special traits to have survived these foes before, and I'm a veteran soldier."

Libby nodded. "Alright y'all, I think that Jimmy, Cindy, and Shaojia should be the leaders. Jimmy's got brains, Cindy's got an eye for detail and a little brawn, and Shaojia probably knows how to kill somebody 6 different ways with a hammer."

Shaojia chuckled. "There are actually 42, but I have to agree with your logic. Jimmy and Cindy are the most intelligent here and I am a war veteran. Fought in the Galactic Civil War of Universe K-85 a few years ago. Almost half of the Enforcers had to help out. I want Sheen to be my advisor. He's played enough videogames to know about war and battle tactics."

Sheen mock-saluted. "You can count on me, Sarge!"

Shaojia frowned. "I'm a Colonel, soldier. Carl, you and Libby can be the Public Relations Unit. You both get along with a lot of people easily and we'll need that to get these kids into shape to fight a war."

Carl smiled. "Really! You actually think I get along with people well! Thank you!" He made an attempt to give Shaojia a hug but one angry glare from him made Carl reconsider.

Libby smiled as well. "Thanks. I know I can get these kids' butts whooped into fighting shape." She saluted smartly.

Shaojia sighed, "Anyone want to add or change anything?" They shook their heads. "Good. Now I'm going to assign each of us a rank. Since this universe bares Jimmy's name, he's General. I'm a Colonel, and so is Cindy. Libby, you're Communications Major First Class, Carl is Second Class. Sheen, you're Major. Any objections?" They took some time to absorb the new information before shaking their heads. "Good, now General, you may set up your lab in the room at the end of that hall," he pointed to the hall leading to the left wing of the complex. Jimmy nodded and ran off with Goddard to set up his lab.

Cindy got up as well. "I'll help him so we can get to work quicker," she said.

Shaojia nodded. "Good idea. Major Folfax and Major Wheezer, stay here and relay the information to the kids." He then handed them a roster. "Also, get them into their sleeping quarters. By now, the invasion force upstairs is combing all of Retroville for us and they may continue to do so for weeks. That's probably why they took your parents as hostage. They know that you'll have to come out sooner or later. We'll have quite sometime to train these guys." They saluted and turned to the crowd. Shaojia turned towards Sheen. "Major Estevez, come with me. We're gonna' keep Nravalok company." He saluted as well and followed Shaojia up another flight of stairs.

* * *

Jimmy slid open the bamboo door and entered the room. It was cold, metallic, and it had a large computer tracking system on the wall, a good template for a laboratory. Cindy entered the room as well. "What are you doing here, Cindy?" he asked.

Cindy froze a few seconds before coming up with a reasonable excuse. "Um, I came to help you out with your lab. Knowing you, it'll take hours to get it all set!"

Jimmy frowned, "I know how to set up my own lab Cindy! I don't need any help. Watch and learn, Vortex!" He took out his hypercube and pressed the 'eject' button. His entire lab flew from the tiny box and filled the previously vacant room. The entire room had transformed into Jimmy's old lab.

Cindy frowned. The real reason she wanted to help was to spend a little time with Jimmy, but that idea had just gone out the window. 'Now what?' she thought sadly. "Well now what do you want me to do, Neutron?" she asked rudely.

Jimmy sighed and plopped into his lab chair. "I don't know. I really don't know for the first time I can ever remember. I don't know a thing about warfare."

Cindy frowned. She didn't want to upset Jimmy, just draw out the conversation. "It's alright Jimmy," she said softly. (A/N: This takes place after the 'Stranded' episode.) "Nobody here knows about war except Shaojia. But you're... you're still a smart guy. You'll get the hang of it and then we'll get our parents back. Come on, you're a great guy. You can do this." She blushed and grabbed his hand reassuringly.

Jimmy blushed as well and smiled. "Th-thanks, Cindy. I needed that. So now what?" he asked.

Before Cindy could answer, a knock was heard on the door. "Uh, Jimmy?" said Carl's voice. "Can Libby and I borrow Goddard for a second? We need him to show the invasion-thingy to the kids."

Jimmy sighed and nodded to Goddard to go. He turned back to Cindy. "How about we ask Shaojia where the kitchen is. I'm kinda hungry. What do you say, Cindy?" Cindy nodded and they went out the door and back into the balcony. Jimmy approached Carl, who was waiting for Goddard to finish showing the invasion footage to the awed crowd. "Hey Carl," Jimmy asked. "where's Shaojia?"

Carl shrugged. "I think he said something about keeping Ibsol company, whatever that means. He went upstairs."

Jimmy grimaced. "Alright thanks Carl." He led Cindy up the stairs and onto the detention level. There were about 10 hallways branching out of the stairwell and each hall looked like it had about 40 rooms in it. "Which hall do you think he's in?" he asked Cindy.

Cindy shrugged. Suddenly there was a violent scream coming from the third hall from the left. "I'm guessing that one," she remarked dryly. They ran towards the hall and entered the room where the screaming was coming from. "Sh-should we knock?" she asked timidly.

Jimmy gulped and nodded. He stepped up to the bamboo door and knocked quickly. There was silence and then the door opened. Sheen was holding a manila folder marked 'Grandma's Feet,' and he was also wearing a pair of sunglasses. "Hey, General Jimmy!" he greeted happily.

Jimmy gulped and asked, "Sheen, what's that noise?"

Sheen looked back inside and said, "Shaojia's trying to get more info from egg-man."

Before he could continue, Shaojia stepped into the hall. "Sergeant, secure our guest! We've broken him. He's on our side now." Sheen nodded and went back into the room.

"What's going on in there?" Jimmy asked again.

Shaojia sighed. "We were trying to get him on our side. We need intel and I'm tired of torturing a fellow soldier. He's only doing his job. Now, Ibsol's chosen the right side to fight with and has agreed to help us."

"Are you sure we can trust him?" Cindy asked.

Shaojia nodded. "I dragged his suit down here this morning. I rigged it to send 9,000 watts of electricity through his slimy body if he tried to kill any of the humans in this facility. It taps into his brain wave patterns to do so. He won't dare try to do anything."

Jimmy reluctantly nodded. This was the perfect chance to get information about their enemies without having to resort to too much violence. "Where will he be staying?" he asked.

Shaojia thought for a moment. "I don't know yet, but he may come and go as he pleases through the base. I have a matter generator in the kitchen area so we can provide him and ourselves with valuable sustenance."

Cindy then remembered their original purpose for coming. "Hey, where is the kitchen anyways?" she asked.

Shaojia pointed upwards. "The third floor's the kitchen and mess hall. The floor below doesn't count. There's an elevator in the third, sixth, and ninth corridor on each level except for the fifth floor which only has three corridors. The elevator there is in the second corridor and can only be reached by sixth corridor elevators. Each elevator carries about 12 people. There are about 10 floors in this compound. Standard Issue Enforcer base. The meeting room is on the fifth floor and so are our rooms. The floor below us was the recreational floor. The fourth floor is the assembly room for all of the kids. The sixth and seventh floors are the living quarters while the eighth and ninth floors are the training grounds. The tenth floor is the armory and docking bay."

"Wait, 'docking bay?'" Jimmy asked.

"Yes, there's a docking bay. You don't plan on fighting a bunch of aliens and robots in theme park rides again, do you?" Shaojia asked sarcastically.

"'Alright then," Jimmy said. "Let's go Cindy." Jimmy grabbed Cindy's hand and pulled her towards the third corridor's elevator. She blushed and followed her secret crush.

Shaojia shook his head slowly. "Ah, young love. Even this war veteran can see that those two are meant to be. Now maybe they can admit their feelings before they get turned into cosmic dust." He sighed and walked back into the interrogation chamber.

* * *

Later that night, the leaders of the army of child soldiers assembled themselves in the meeting room. Jimmy sighed and slumped in his office chair's cushion while Sheen spun around in his. Carl and Libby were going over the army's morale standings, and Cindy was coming back from the kitchen with hot chocolate for everyone (except Shaojia who had a cup of coffee since dog demons can't have chocolate). Shaojia was setting up a projection disk in the middle of the meeting room's table. "Alright, there we go. All set," Shaojia said as all other activates stopped. "Okay, who wants to report first? General?"

Jimmy got up and accepted the slide controller from Shaojia. He turned the projector on and kept pressing buttons until it went to live security footage of his new lab. "Alright, well me and Cindy already set up the lab. All of my stuff is in there including the surveillance system. Who's next?" Libby and Carl got up next.

Libby took the slide pointer as Carl spoke. She changed the projector settings like Jimmy did and got it to go to a graph she and Carl uploaded into the buildings main frame (with the help of Goddard) earlier. It showed the name of each person, age, blood type, etc. "Well, Libby and I took a count on how many kids we have, and we counted about 246 kids plus us making, um," he counted on his fingers. "One, two, three, um..."

Libby groaned. "Oh for the love of Lady Ladida, Carl, there's six of us meaning there are 252 total!" She was very stressed out by her partner's incompetence and made an effort to strangle him.

Luckily, Sheen and Jimmy restrained Libby to prevent things from getting nasty as Shaojia went up to the slide pointer and picked it up. He left the settings alone for now. "Me and Sheen have 'talked' to our former Yolkian prisoner and convinced him to come on our side." He then called out towards the door. "You may come in now, Sergeant." Ibsol floated into the room wearing the standard Yolkian battle armor except it now had a red chest plate and gold arm and shoulder links. Shaojia placed his clawed hand on Ibsol's shaking shoulder reassuringly. "I want all of you to treat Sergeant Third Class Ibsol Nravalok like he is one of the team. And don't worry; he's smart enough not to try something stupid." He glared maliciously at Ibsol. "Right, Sergeant?" Ibsol shook his suit side to side, the Yolkian equivalent of a nod. "Good. Now, onto the sleeping arrangements. As you have noticed, there are only three corridors on this level. This meeting room is the junction of each corridor, and there is only one room in each hall, meaning 3 rooms for those of us who can't count." He glanced over at Carl. "Each room is quite spacious and has a private bathroom and dressing room but only two beds. This means that the six of you will have to choose a roommate. I, however, have my own chamber, since this is an Enforcer base. Objections?" The room was filled with grumbles and whines but nobody objected. They all figured it was kinda' like a hotel and didn't exactly want to be alone in an underground military base. "Good," he said before changing the projector's settings and pulling up a map of the fifth floor. "Alright so here are the schematics for this floor. As you can see, here is my room," he pointed to a box labeled 'Wang' as he spoke. According to the mouth, it was north of the meeting room. The two side corridors arched out and formed junctions at the meeting room area and the stairwell area. The middle corridor went straight in between the two locations. Shaojia pointed to the room on the left corridor. "Now who wants this room here?" asked.

Carl raised his hand. "Ooh, ooh, me, me!" he yelled.

Shaojia slapped his forehead. "Fine, Carl, you get the room. Who do you want to be your roommate?"

Carl looked around the room before noticing Ibsol. "Do you like llamas?" he asked him.

Ibsol was at attention immediately. "Llamas! You mean those furry, fascinating four-legged creatures?" Carl nodded excitedly. "Well I just adore them! When I was working for the Yolkian Empire, I always wanted to retire and live on a farm and breed llamas!" Then, Carl and Ibsol got into a long (and creepy) conversation over llama breeding techniques, much to everyone's disgust.

Carl looked back to Shaojia who was covering his dog ears. "I want Ibsol to be my roomy!" Shaojia nodded and dismissed them out of the room. They left, still talking about llamas though the topic had changed to 'What do llamas dream about?'

Shaojia looked at his now-cold coffee and chugged the whole thing in one gulp. "Now, who wants room 2?" Jimmy and Cindy raised their hands. 'Hmm, the love god, whatever the Hell his name is, did say that if I could hook two likely people up, he'd talk to the Emperor about giving me a pay raise,' he thought. "Alright then, Cindy, Jimmy how about you two be roommates?" They both blushed but resigned to sharing the room 'for the sake of the army.' Everyone present, though, saw through their charade. Shaojia then turned to the remaining two. "Well, Sheen, Libby, it appears as if you two are the only one's left."

Libby groaned. "Fine, but only 'cuz I don't want to break up Jimmy and Cindy."

Sheen cheered. "Yes! Come on Libbilicious! Our room awaits!" He raced out of the room, leaving a reluctant Libby to follow.

Shaojia finally left the room and entered his room, which was an exact replica of the one in his house above ground, with a few extras including a desk and chair, a Kwan Dao weapon, and a rifle rack. He sat on the bed and started to undress. 'Well,' he thought as he as he removed his outer robe and draped it over a chair, 'it's only the first day and this happens. I _can't_ wait for basic training tomorrow!' he grimaced. "I'm never going to get paid enough for this!"

* * *

Yahoo! This is my longest chapter yet! Read and Review please!

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	4. Basic Training and Promotions

**Chapter 4:**

**Basic Training and Promotions**

**(Chinese) **"**English" **'**Thoughts'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of its characters.**

**Author's Note: I have reached several reviews concerning Shaojia and the Anime and Manga character, Inuyasha. I would like to apologize for the inconvenience but he is not Inuyasha's son or reincarnation. He was simply a character sketch for one of the OC's in my Inu fanfic, "Jewels of the Gods." It just goes to show that it's never a good idea to make two different fanfics of different genres at once but it's too late now. Once again, I apologize for the problem.**

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Jimmy slowly opened his eyes as he surveyed his room. He was in a room that looked like a mix between a room in a Buddhist Temple and the Four Seasons Hotel he stayed in when his family went to Vegas three years ago. His bed was queen-sized and so was the one that Cindy slept in. Jimmy's sleepy mind became more awake than ever at that. He instantly covered himself with the silk sheets remembering that he usually slept only in his boxers and scanned the room for any sign of his secret crush, nearly banging his head on the table top beside his bed in the process. He sighed in relief and discovered that not only was Cindy not in the room, he was also wearing all of his clothing. His relief was short-lived, however, when he heard the angelic sound of humming muffled by shower water. Jimmy quickly reasoned that Cindy had only one set of clothes just like him, so she was not going to come out in nothing but a towel. His face flushed at the thought. (A/N: Goddard is sleeping in the lab and will remain there for the duration of this chapter.)

Cindy slowly opened the door and made sure to tighten the towel around her waist. 'No telling if Jimmy's up and about yet,' she thought dryly. She was up about an hour ago and decided to wash up before him. Since she had no other clothes at the present, she had to change back into her old clothes (which looked like all of her other clothes). Her hair was wrapped up in a towel. She exited the bathroom to see an already awake boy genius slowly getting up from his bed. "Mornin' Cindy," he muttered as he rubbed his eyes.

Cindy smiled. "Morning, Jimmy. Finally up, huh?" She giggled to herself. He looked very peaceful when he was asleep, unlike when he was awake. His face was always scrunched up in concentration or deep thought. "You want some breakfast?"

Jimmy nodded, "Yes please. Thanks Cindy." He smiled back and checked his watch. "8:30," he muttered. He walked into the bathroom and shut the door. Cindy giggled again.

"Always the talkative one, huh, Jimmy?" she remarked dryly. A simple groan was her answer. Then there was a knock on the door. Cindy opened the door to reveal an impatient Shaojia sipping on s cup of jasmine tea. "Good morning, Shaojia! What do you need?"

Shaojia frowned. "Is General Neutron awake yet? The regular army is eating in the mess hall and basic training is starting today. I still have a headache from teaching those morons how to use the kitchen technology."

Cindy nodded, "He's awake. What do you need us to do?"

Shaojia took another sip of his tea. "First, we should probably get some breakfast. Meet me in the meeting room when the good General's finished."

Cindy nodded and slid the bamboo door closed. She turned to go back to her bed and dry her hair. She grabbed her hair bun from the table top she put it on this morning and proceeded to put her hair back in its usual bun. As she finished, Jimmy finally came out of the bathroom and smiled at Cindy. "Hey, who was at the door?"

Cindy got up and smiled as well. "It was just Shaojia. He says that it's time for breakfast, _General Neutron_." She mock-pouted at the mention of Jimmy's superior military rank.

Jimmy played along with her little game. He went to the door and opened it. "Front and center, Colonel!" He commanded. Cindy mock-saluted and stood at attention in front of the door. Jimmy pointed out of the door. "Forward, march!" Cindy began playfully marching out of the room and Jimmy followed behind her.

* * *

Shaojia scowled as he poured the last drop of his tea into his cup. He drank what small amount was and placed the empty cup on the table. He turned towards a massive Buddha statue behind the end of one side of the elongated table. There was a cabinet filled with bowls, cup, plates, and utensils on each side of it. He walked towards it and placed his tea cup on the prayer stone on the ground in front of it. He kneeled down and bowed his head. The tea cup was then engulfed in a bright, white light. Shaojia got up with the tea cup and opened the top; it was full. He sighed contently and refilled his cup.

Just then, the door slid open and Sheen and Libby stepped into the room. Sheen saluted lazily and fell spread-eagle style onto the ground in front of him. Libby sighed and dragged his body a few inches before giving up and taking a seat beside Shaojia. "So, what's for breakfast?" she asked.

Shaojia pointed to the Buddha statue he had just gone to. "Anything you want. Just go to the Buddha, grab a plate from the cabinet, put it on the stone, kneel down, imagine the food you want, and there you go." Libby cocked an eyebrow skeptically at Shaojia before going towards the Buddha. Fortunately for Shaojia, Jimmy, Cindy, Carl, and Ibsol had arrived during their conversation. Sheen had also gotten up. Libby had come back to the table with a plate of pancakes, Sheen a plate of bacon, Jimmy a bowl of cereal, Cindy some bacon and toast, Carl, oddly yet predictably enough, llama-shaped pancakes, and Ibsol a slimy, green pudding-type thing which he called 'yoosankralika.'

Jimmy experimentally tasted a spoonful of his cereal. "This is phenomenal! Shaojia, how does that statue work?"

Shaojia shrugged and got up to go back to the statue. "Don't know and don't really care. It's CelestiCorp technology. Made by the gods themselves." He grabbed a bowl from the cabinet and placed it on the plaque. He bowed his head again and summoned a bowl of rice porridge. He grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the cabinet. "They're the same gods who poofed me into this universe to rescue your sorry hides from getting turned into dust. Besides, I don't know a thing about science. I'm from the universe that looks like an old Kung Fu movie, remember?"

"Then how do you know about movies?" asked Carl before cramming the rest of one pancake into his mouth.

Shaojia shrugged once more. "I've been to more advanced universes. When I was stationed in Universe S-17 during its civil war, I saw a sword that has a blade made of pure, concentrated energy. Too bad I forgot to take a few before I left though. Those things cut through solid, reinforced steel like it was paper! You tend to learn thing when you're out there so you don't get your head blown off by something that looks like a pipe. Trust me; I've seen it happen once."

"Sounds like a lot of universes are having a lot of civil wars lately, huh?" commented Cindy. She took a big chomp out of her toast.

Shaojia nodded before putting a clump of wet rice into his mouth. "Yep and I'm tired of fighting them. I just wish someone would take the peace pipe and cram it down some throats for me." He put a few more clumps in his mouth and swallowed it down with a cup of tea.

Ibsol downed his entire breakfast using an opening in the front of his mouth where his mouth presumably was. "Mmm... that is very authentic homemade yoosankralika!"

Shaojia nodded. "Yep, this is all new technology from the guys in Lab 52. They design and create all of the equipment for Enforcers like this building and that food generator. It taps into your mind and creates the food of your choice using past experiences or your imagination on what you think it might taste like. We can get"

Jimmy took another bite of his cereal. "Wait, I thought you said that there was a matter generator in the kitchen?"

Shaojia shrugged and downed the rest of his meal. "This is a new model of the base, I guess. I took an overview of the schematics last night, and I saw a few changes to the building. I've got to check for messages from Lab 52." He then turned to the projector from last night and turned it on. A blue sign-in screen popped up. "Computer: Li Pao-sung 52." The projection faded then shot up again showing a screen reminiscent to the MSN e-mail format. Shaojia clicked on the only file link on screen. He turned to the others while it loaded. "Pao-sung is an old friend of mine. He's from the same universe as me, but he comes from the village of Qingtsung, somewhere near the Fuzhou Province. Don't even ask me to point it out on a map; I have no idea where it is. He's head of the Department of Shelter at Lab 52, and he'll be our tech support guy. We met about two years ago when he started out, and we last fought in a war together a year and a half ago in Universe O-19. He got stuck in Lab 52 because he got his right arm blown off a few weeks into the war." The screen finished loading the page and a young man appearing to be around 12 years old came on screen. He was sleeping face down in a pile of paper work and wore a white lab coat with a white glove over his right hand. "Hey, Pao-sung! Sleeping on the job again, eh?"

The scientist known as Pao-sung sat up in his office chair at the sound of the familiar voice. "AH!" He looked at the screen and relaxed slightly. "Good morning, Shaojia! Long time, no see, huh? Ha ha!" Pao-sung greeted happily.

Shaojia smirked. "Yeah, how are the tech-mice treating you?" Tech-mice was the nickname Enforcers usually gave the scientists in Lab 52, but Shaojia just used it to tease his old friend.

Pao-sung groaned. "You WON'T believe the stuff they've got me doing in here! I mean look at this... this JUNK!" he motioned dramatically with his hands at the pile of papers before him. He then noticed the curious group of humans (and one alien) crowded around his friend. "Hey Shaojia, if you don't mind me asking, what's with the group behind you? Other than me, you usually stay away from humans," he pointed out. "And aliens," he added.

Shaojia sighed. "They're my next paycheck. The kid in the red shirt's the contact, the rest are just allies. Red Shirt's got a few raw eggs, a short maniac, and a rich snob for enemies and the Council wants me to clean up his mess! Sounds like every other mission I've been on... Anyways, I wanted to ask you, is this a new model for the base?"

Pao-sung smiled proudly and leaned back in his chair. "It sure is! It's almost the same as the old model, but it's got a few new things as you can see."

Shaojia nodded. "Yeah, it's got a larger food inventory!" The two friends shared a good laugh. "Anyway, what else does this bamboo crate got other than enough food to feed all the starving children in each universe?"

Pao-sung began to rummage around in his desk's drawers and pulled up a manual of sorts. "The E-9.5 Enforcer Base," he quoted dully, "is the newest line in CelestiCorp Military technology. This model of base..." Pao-sung yawned and skimmed over the pages before dramatically flinging it over his shoulder. "Pfft, screw it!" He leaned closer into the computer screen. "The only new thing is that this model's got three matter generators. Of course there's the one in the mess hall, and there are now generators in the assembly bay and in the main corridor of the fifth floor."

Shaojia frowned. "Where?" he asked. "When I checked this floor out last night, I didn't see anything close to a matter generator."

Pao-sung leaned back in his chair again and closed his eyes in thought. Then he opened them up again and said, "That's right! It's built into that dragon sculpture in the main hall. Why don't you go ahead and check it out?"

Shaojia nodded and walked outside of the meeting room. After a minute, he came back into the room and said to Pao-sung, "Thanks pal. I'm glad you're not a debt collector or I'd be broke with all of the favors you've done for me!"

Pao-sung laughed. "Don't worry about it, old friend! Besides, I would be paying you back for all of the times you've had to save me from getting by head blown, chopped, ad sliced off!" The two friends laughed once more. "Alright, take care of yourself, Shaojia."

Shaojia gave a two-fingered salute. "Yeah, yeah. And tell those tech-mice to shove those test tubes where the sun don't shine next time they give you any!"

Pao-sung laughed louder. "Will do, pal." The screen went blank as Pao-sung signed off.

Shaojia sat up and straightened out his robes. Ibsol floated over to Shaojia. "Good, old, military buddies, right?"

Shaojia chuckled. "Yeah, we go way back but now's not the time for an old war vet to be sharing stories. We need to get all of you into uniform first." They all nodded and followed Shaojia out of the meeting room and into the main corridor. He went up to the golden dragon statue and pressed the small orb it held in its clawed hand. The dragon opened its mouth and projected an image the same way the projector in the meeting room did. He pulled up a selection screen for uniforms. He turned to the others. "Alright, just pick which uniform you want, press the orb, and make sure to keep in the dragon's line of sight. Make sure to go one at a time. I'm going to go change into my own uniform." With that Shaojia, went back to his room leaving the other leaders to pick out there uniforms.

* * *

Shaojia stepped out of his room ten minutes later in his full, military uniform. It was completely black with the exception of a red shoulder pad jutting out of his right shoulder. A black cape with a red inner color was hanging off of his shoulders. War medals hung off the left side of his chest, and the American Army insignia for his rank was etched on both sleeves. His fully body battle armor was visible under the uniform. He was back in his human form and he had a black helmet on his head with a red, T-shaped visor. He wore black gloves and black, steel-toed boots. He took off his helmet and let his hair, which was back in a Manchurian braid, flow down his uniformed back. His two swords still hung from his waist by a black sash along two 9mm pistols on each side of his uniform. Shaojia sighed contently and patted his uniform down. "Ah, it's nice to be back in uniform. Well, time to see how the others are doing."

When he got back to the main hall, he found that everyone else was already dressed up in their own unique style of uniforms. Jimmy was in a red military uniform with black slacks and boots. Cindy was in a Kelly green uniform with white pants and black boots. Her hair was no longer in its bun and hung off to one side (which Jimmy secretly thought made her look cuter). Carl was in an over-sized red-orange uniform with olive green slacks and black boots. Libby was in a completely purple uniform with black, stylish boots and white gloves. Ibsol, of course, was in his normal suit while Sheen had chosen something similar to the armor of his idol Ultralord's in every possible way. He even had the mask. Jimmy stepped experimentally in his new uniform and was amazed at the flexibility the uniform allowed. "Wow," he muttered. "This... this material is amazing!"

Shaojia finally stepped up to the group. "Alright people, now's not the time for prancing around in your new clothes. General Neutron, the army should be done eating by now and is ready for basic training, sir!" he saluted sharply, his helmet under his other arm.

Jimmy scratched the back of his head nervously. "You know, I'm not too sure about this 'General' thing. I don't know a thing about armies or anything. Do you think that... well..."

Shaojia sighed and put his helmet on. "Let me guess," he said. His voice was filtered and was made harsh and menacing by the helmet's voice amplifier. "You want me to be general for the next few days so you can learn the basics of military structure and organization, and in a few days, you'll be ready to do it yourself?" Jimmy nodded timidly. "Fine, but I'm only doing this because I need to keep you and your friends alive. Can't do that if you're not properly trained, now can I? Well, I've led armies before. Small ones like this probably won't be too hard. I have to warn you though, I run a tight ship."

Jimmy gulped. "I'm prepared to take that risk."

Cindy grabbed Jimmy by the arm and pulled him aside. "What do you think you're doing, Neutron!" she whispered harshly.

Jimmy sighed. "I don't know a thing about armies, Cindy. I just want to study how to do it, and then take control when I think I'm ready to lead an entire army against fully armed aliens and mercenaries."

Cindy bit her lip and thought of a way to get Jimmy to reconsider, but she had no choice but to agree. Shaojia was the one with the most military experience and by the looks of the war medals, he's had a lot of good experiences. "Alright, but I hope you know what you're doing."

Jimmy nodded and they went back to reunite with the others. "We're all set, right?" Shaojia asked. Jimmy nodded again. "Great, let's make our way to the assembly hall. That's where I told them to be after breakfast, and I had a film set up for them on how to get their military uniforms too, but before we go, I need to ask, who doesn't want to fight?" Carl raised his hand immediately.

"My mom says that wars are very bad for my allergies," he explained lamely. Shaojia rolled his eyes but dismissed it. Carl's girth would have made him a bigger target, and Shaojia didn't want 'Enforcer gets Fat Child Converted into Swiss Cheese,' as the cover story of the next Enforcer Monthly Newspaper. (A/N: I have nothing against fat people.)

Shaojia turned to Ibsol. "Ibsol, do you want out? I'm sure it's not going to be comfortable for you to be killing your own people."

Ibsol reluctantly nodded. "Yes, I shall assist Carl."

Shaojia nodded. "Good, you two will be in charge of the communications for the main force. I'm sure at least 15 people won't be fighting. Please report to the communications center on the fourth floor. You can reach it by going through the door left of the elevator when we get off. While you're their, take some time to study the control manual on one of the desks in there. You'll need it." They nodded and made their way towards the elevator.

* * *

Later, they had arrived at the balcony level of the assembly hall, and Carl and Ibsol left for the communications center. Jimmy looked over the railings to see the army he and the others would be leading into battle. There were 246 soldiers total, according to yesterday's statistical records, and they were in the training uniforms Shaojia had assigned the generator below to give to them. They were completely black and they bore no insignia, indicating that they were all new recruits. Libby turned to Shaojia. "You real have a thing for black, doncha?" she asked.

Shaojia shrugged. "Eh, it's harder to get blood off of white uniforms than black ones," he replied nonchalantly. Libby blanched at the rather unexpected answer. Shaojia stepped up to the podium in the middle of the balcony and pressed a few buttons on it. The podium extended outwards, receiving many 'ooh's and 'aah's from the crowd below. The other leaders stepped onto the podium. Shaojia tapped the microphone lightly. "Good morning recruits, and welcome to the army!" There were several groans and complaints. Shaojia shrugged. "Hey, if you don't want your parents rescued fine by me. Not exactly my problem." The children immediately shut up. "Good, now if you do not wish to fight in any reason, please leave through the hall to your far right. You will be handling the communications of the rest of the army. Your leaders are Major Carl Wheezer and former prisoner Ibsol Nravalok. Do not shoot Ibsol!" 26 people left, mainly moderately obese people and the nerds with the pocket protectors. Now, I want anyone left who is under 12 to go to the rec room in the main lobby or into your rooms. Battle is no place for young children." Only 10 people left, son now there were 210 soldiers total. "Alright now that that's settled, allow me to introduce to you your leaders." He pointed to each one as he went along. "Jimmy Neutron is your general, but I will be taking over for him until he gets the basic grasp of military structure."

An angry, anonymous voice from the back shouted, "Why's Nerd-bomb the general!"

"Because he, along with the other leaders, has saved your hides more times then any of you morons can count, so shut up if you know what's good for ya'!" he retaliated. There were no more comments. "Now as I was saying, General Neutron is your leader. You will still follow his orders, whatever they are, regardless. Major Libby Folfax is the Public Relations Officer so you will go to her if there are any problems that you have, and she, along with Major Wheezer, will help you sort them out. Colonel Cindy Vortex is General Neutron's primary assistant. She will be someone whose orders you will obey. You must also obey Major Sheen Estevez's orders. He is my assistant and will help me train you along with Colonel Vortex. "I am your drill sergeant, Colonel Shaojia Wang. I will put you into tip-top, fighting shape, and I will teach you the ways of battle. Basic training starts today. Do I make myself clear, recruits?" There were a few scattered 'yes sir's in the crowd. "DO I MAKE MYSELF CLEAR!" he shouted angrily.

"SIR, YES SIR!" They all shouted.

Shaojia grinned proudly. "Good, now move out. Go to the elevators and press for level 8. If there is no more room in an elevator, then you can either wait around for it to come back or you can get your behinds up those stairs! When I get there, I expect to find you in five equal lines of 42 people. We all know how to count to 42, right?"

"SIR, YES SIR!"

"Good," he continued, "because on the battlefield, idiots get killed, and I'm not going to train a bunch of idiots to become dead men right?"

"SIR, NO SIR!"

"I didn't think so. Now move out!" Shaojia turned and marched towards the elevators, leaving the other leaders to follow with their army marching dutifully below them.

* * *

Minutes later, the army scrambled out of the elevators and into their lines. The foolish few who actually chose the stairs were trotting up it, thoroughly exhausted from their work out. Shaojia and the others stepped out of their own elevator and looked at the assembled army and then the training facility. Apparently, the eighth floor training facility was for hand-to-hand combat only. There were training mats, punching bags, free weights, basically everything an Olympic champion would want in a gym. Shaojia turned to the leaders "Alright, guys, here's the plan. Just follow my lead, and ask me if you have a question." They nodded. Shaojia marched toward the army. "Alright, boys and girls, right now, you will have the hand-to-hand combat course." He pointed to the line on the far left. "This line will be my row, the next row is Jimmy's, the middle's Cindy's, next over is Libby's, and the last one is Sheen's. Remember what line you are in because these are your 'team' lines for any team training courses we will be doing. Now, moving on to the punching bags," He concluded as he pointed to a forest of said equipment.

When the army finally got there, Shaojia explained, "For the first two days or so, we will be testing your strengths and weaknesses so we know what we need to improve on and on who. Now, the first person in each line will go to their trainers and state their name," he then pointed to a stack of clipboards and data sheets. "The trainers will write it down." He walked up to one of the bags and pointed at the LCD screen on the bar the bag was hanging from. "When you punch or kick one of these things, the strength of each attack will be displayed up here. It's measured on a scale of 0-1000, though I know none of you humans can get to 1000, no offense. I want each of you to punch, then kick this bag, but wait for the trainers to give you the okay before doing so. They will record the stats of each attack. When you are done with both attacks, report upstairs and wait in the area near the stairs in their lines. Don't touch anything up there! First, however, I want each trainer to get there own data in. I will record it to show everyone how things are done." He nodded towards Jimmy.

Jimmy nodded back nervously and stepped up to the bag. He pulled his arm back and struck the bag. Surprisingly, the LCD screen read 20. Shaojia quickly wrote it down and allowed Jimmy to proceed. Jimmy nodded again and kicked with all of his might at the bag. He only got a 12. Many of the kids laughed, but were silenced from one glare from Shaojia who then motioned for Cindy to step up after he wrote down Jimmy's kick score.

Cindy had scored a 22 for her punch and a 27 for her kick (A/N: Remember, she's taken Tai Chi Chuan and Tae Kwon Do), Sheen scored a 25 for his punch and a 14 for his kick, and Libby scored an 18 for her punch and an 11 for her kick. When Shaojia came up, he astonished everyone by getting a 102 for his punch and a 105 for his kick. (A/N: Remember, he's practiced Shaolin Kung Fu for over 8 years of his life, starting at age 4.) 'And this is him when he's not a demon,' Jimmy thought dryly. Shaojia turned to the regular army after writing his scores down. "Alright, now you may begin."

He moved aside to let the kids attack the bags. After about twenty minutes, the highest score was from Butch whom was in Cindy's line. He got an above average punch score of (to Shaojia) 37 and a 31 for his kick, perfectly normal for an average human teenage male as well as an overly muscular child. Shaojia looked back over to his station. Nick Dean, Retroville's cool kid, was just about to punch the bag. He was the 34th person in line. Nick punched the bag with all of his might and came up with an average score of (once again to Shaojia) 29 for his punch and a 20 for his kick. Cindy walked up to Shaojia and said timidly, "Hey, I think we have a little situation at my station."

Shaojia groaned. He turned to Nick who was walking off towards the elevator. "Hey Recruit, man my post. Colonel Vortex here has a little situation that we both need to handle. Do this one job right and I might promote you from Recruit to Private Second Class." Nick smiled at the thought of being promoted and raced back to Shaojia's station. Shaojia turned to Cindy. "Alright, what's the problem?"

Cindy pointed at her station and said, "I don't know what's wrong with it. The screen just froze up and started giving numbers at random." Shaojia looked closely at the LCD screen on top. Indeed it was changing randomly; no one was even hitting it and it read 47, then 79, then 0, and now 977.

"When did this happen?" asked Shaojia.

"After some kid punched a 21. It just started to malfunction."

Shaojia nodded. "Must be one of the old models. Probably just one hit too many. Well, all we can do now is move your station elsewhere. I'll talk to Pao-sung later and I'll get the new models for anything else we need. If we're going to attack another army, we're gonna' do it right." Cindy nodded and ran towards her station. When Shaojia returned to his station, he was impressed to see that Nick was handling things quite well. "Recruit, what's your progress?"

Nick looked up from the data sheet and saluted. Shaojia returned his salute. "I've got it covered, Chief. I'm all done here." Nick gave Shaojia the filled-out data sheet, who examined it in return. Shaojia nodded.

Shaojia reached out for Nick's hand and shook it. "Excellent work, recruit. After dinner today, I want you to use one of the sixth corridor elevators and press level five. That's where the Officers' Quarters are. Use the directory and come into the meeting room in full uniform, and we'll talk about your promotion. You've done an outstanding job here, Recruit." Nick smiled. "You're dismissed." Nick ran off with the last of the soldiers. Shaojia turned to Jimmy. "General, did you happen to catch any of that?"

Jimmy nodded and looked at Shaojia skeptically. "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean Nick... he's an okay guy and I suppose he's responsible since he has to take care of his little brother, but-"

"Wait, brother?" Shaojia asked.

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, his name was Alan I think, and he's about 7, but I don't know how that matters."

Shaojia shook his head. "Simple; he's a family man. Most successful Enforcers have other people to take care of or protect, meaning they have someone to go back to and care for. We're not heartless murderers. We just do what we have to do to support ourselves and our loved ones," Shaojia explained as his mind took a scenic drive down memory lane.

* * *

_-Flashback-_

_A 7 year old Shaojia walked out into the grassy hills and knolls of his native universe, on a bright and sunny morning in the Harvest Seasons. He had just gotten back from an assassination mission which had gone off without a hitch. He wore only his inner robes though the weather was cool and crisp. _

_He breathed in the scent of jasmine rice growing in the nearby fields of his home of Tienshang, a rural village which he had moved to when his parents were killed by several angry demon officials. Shaojia smirked maliciously at the reminder of his joy when the blood of his parents' murderers ran down his clawed hands. Since Father had no siblings and his own parents were long deceased, Shaojia was the heir to the throne. In a final act of hatred, Shaojia left the Imperial City of Beijing, also leaving the current demon dynasty, the Northern Chang dynasty, in complete disarray. That had been about two years ago. The demon community had never found another leader who was strong enough to rule for more than a few weeks and the Northern Chang Empire was slowly falling apart, and they never bothered to ask Shaojia again to rule the Imperial Throne, though he had only moved three days travel South of the Imperial City._

_'Mother, Father,' he thought sadly, 'I know that neither of you like my choices in life, but there were no other choices. I am a strong warrior now, like Father had always wanted me to become, but I am also a good scholar like Mother wanted.'_

_He was interrupted from his reminiscing state of mind when a shrill but pleasant voice rang through the air. (a-Shaojia-ge!) (A/N: -ge is the Mandarin Chinese honorific for an older male friend or relative. Equivalent to Japanese -kun. A- is a prefix used for names.) A little human girl came running towards him. _

_(Good morning, Meiling-mei,) Shaojia greeted happily. (A/N: -mei is another Mandarin honorific. This one is for younger female friends or relatives. Similar for Japanese -chan, but is solely for younger females.) He smiled. He had met her on his trip from his hometown of Beijing, and every time he was on an assignment, he brought Meiling with him to the Imperial City of the Heavens, the home for the Enforcers from his realm. In fact, she had even gone there with him when the Messengers of Heaven had first come to him with the opportunity to become an Enforcer a few weeks after he had settled in Tienshang. He looked back down to the little girl beside him. (My, don't you look awfully pretty today! Is it time to go to the Market already?) he asked playfully. Meiling did indeed look very beautiful for a 6 year old. She was wearing a, long-sleeved, crimson, women's cheongsam with gold floral patterns going down the front and back of it, and there were light blue highlights on the shoulders. Her hair was up in an elegant bow while a white lotus flower held it in place._

_Meiling blushed and dug her sandaled toes shyly into the dirt. (Maybe,) she giggled._

_Young Shaojia smiled mischievously. (Maybe, eh? Well I don't know if we should go if you don't know for sure that it's the right day,) he joked._

_Meiling latched herself onto Shaojia's leg. (Please, Shaojia-ge! It's the right day! It's the right day!) she pleaded._

_Shaojia laughed softly and patted the little girl's head. (Alright, alright. We can go today but try not to buy so much! I only have 5,000 yuan,) he laughed. Though the two children lived alone in a single-level hut in the countryside of China, they had quite a bit of currency coming from Shaojia's profession which was why he had joined in the first place._

_Meiling smiled. (Okay, Shaojia-ge!) Shaojia smiled brightly, grabbed Meiling's hand in his, and walked with her down the path towards Tienshang's Market Square._

_-End Flashback- _

_

* * *

_

Jimmy snapped his fingers to get Shaojia out of his reverie. Shaojia shook his head to clear it of all thoughts. "Huh, oh yes, right, sorry about that," Shaojia apologized bashfully, though he covered his bashful tone with a more casual one.

Jimmy nodded. "No problem, now what was that about 'loved ones?'" he asked coyly.

Shaojia growled, though he was in his human form. "Nothing," he muttered. "Anyways, what do you think about promoting Nick? He seems to be very popular and influential among the rest of the army and we need people like that to enforce our orders. This isn't a typical army, Jimmy. This is an over-sized militia. We need a wind of dominance to tell these kids who's in charge here or they will all die because we say left and they go right. And do you know where right goes? Smack-dab into a mine field that's where." Shaojia shook his head disdainfully.

Jimmy nodded. "Maybe we should talk about this to the others like you said before," he suggested.

Shaojia nodded. "Agreed. Now let's go. Everyone's done, and they're waiting for us upstairs. I don't know about you, but I DEFINITELY don't want to leave a pack of untrained nimrods in the firing range." He left for the stairs.

Jimmy gulped. 'F-firing range!' he thought. With renewed energy, Jimmy shot up the stairs, not bothering to use the elevators.

* * *

Sheen looked excitedly at the rows and rows of guns and firing booths on the other side of the bulletproof glass his face was pressed up against. "Wow," he whispered in an excited squeal. "I can't believe they're teaching us how to use guns!" Unlike all of the other rooms in the complex they had seen so far, it was entirely cold and metallic.

Cindy rolled her eyes at Sheen's foolish and childish behavior. She sighed and looked over to where the elevators were when several loud noises came up the stairs. Jimmy ran up the stairs and charged towards Cindy. He promptly checked Cindy for any gun shot wounds. "Cindy! Are you alright?"

Cindy stepped away from Jimmy. "I'm fine, Neu- _General,_" she said when she saw that she had the attention of the entire room. "What's all this about anyways?"

Jimmy sighed in relief. "Shaojia said that this is where the firing range was and I thought you or someone else was killed!"

The soft 'ding' of an elevator door opening caused everyone to turn towards it. Shaojia stepped out of the elevator. He walked to the door on the other side of the crowd without a word. He knocked on the door once and said, "She cheng." The metallic door slid opened with a metallic hiss. He turned to the crowd. "Next, we will be testing your aim. To fight our advanced enemies, we must have more advanced weaponry. We are dealing with robots, aliens, and professional mercenaries. In this room, you will find several types of firearms. Most are normal projectile weapons like pistols and rifles, but there are laser weapons as well," he abruptly raised his hand to silence Sheen's very obvious comment from Ultralord. "The laser weapons will only be given to the most responsible and well-trained individuals after several days of training." There were simultaneous groans and complaints. "Fine, see if I care if you put a hole in your head the size of a shoe with a weapon that eats away slowly and painfully at each layer of skin and bone." Once again, the noises stopped. "For today, you will only be using a standard American M-14 carbine and a 9mm pistol. We will undergo the same routine as the previous training course, so General Neutron, please report to one of the firing stations, and select a weapon. You need to first put on those sound dampeners on the wall there. The safeties are already off so all you need to do is pull the trigger then put the gun down slowly."

Jimmy nodded and cautiously picked up the pistol and put on the sound dampeners. He took a deep breath and pointed the gun down the firing lane where a bull's-eye with five rings was roughly 40 meters away and an LCD with a live video image of it on the side. He closed his eyes shut and pulled the trigger. The gun fired with a loud 'bang,' causing many of the soldiers to flinch involuntarily. Shaojia walked up to Jimmy's booth and looked at the screen. Jimmy's shot hit the fifth ring from the bull's-eye. Shaojia recorded it and then motioned for Jimmy to pick up the rifle. Jimmy lifted it up with much difficulty but managed to shoulder it. "Jimmy looked down the barrel like he saw many soldiers do on TV and pulled the trigger. This time, the shot hit the fourth ring.

As for the others, Cindy got the fourth ring with the pistol and the third ring with the rifle, and Libby barely managed to hit the fifth ring with both weapon. Surprisingly, Sheen, the idiot who drew a clown with a flamethrower on his last math exam, hit the first ring from the bull's-eye with the pistol and the bull's-eye itself with the rifle. Shaojia looked over to Sheen, obviously impressed. "Magnificent shots, Major Estevez! Where'd you learn to shoot like that?"

Sheen smiled proudly and saluted. "From that new videogame, 'Ultralord: Honorable Awesome Medals of Honor.' It's a first-person shooter."

Everyone resisted the urge to groan in annoyance at the incredibly obvious answer. "Very good, Major," Shaojia said. "I believe you may be one of this army's key sharpshooters." Shaojia saluted and dismissed Sheen back to his line. Now Shaojia was next to fire the weapons. Unlike Sheen, he got both bull's-eyes which, surprisingly, surprised everyone. (A/N: Surprising, ain't it?)

He turned to the rest of the soldiers and said, "Now for the rest of you, you may begin. When you are finished, you may return to your barracks, the rec room in the main lobby, or you can go to the mess hall for lunch. In celebration of a very good start to the first day, I have decided that fried chicken and cheeseburgers are our special of the day." Everyone cheered. "You will continue to be treated to such treats, if you try hard enough; Improvement results in treats, slop results in... well slop. At 1500 hours, 3 o' clock for the slow folks out there, everyone will meet back at the eighth floor and use the machines to burn off the gained calories and to strengthen your muscles for combat. Afterwards, you will come back here to strengthen your minds with tactical combat scenarios. You will run computer generated simulations in your teams for the reward of dessert after dinner."

After twenty minutes of ear-shattering gunshots, Nick was up in line again, this time as number 42. So far, the best shots were from Butch who, thanks to his years of sling-shot shooting, hit the third ring on both weapons. Nick lifted the pistol expertly and lined up his sights. Nick fired the weapon and hit the second ring. Nick then hefted the rifle and hit... a direct bull's-eye. Shaojia nearly dropped the clipboard in surprise. He walked up to Nick and asked, "How did you do that?"

Nick saluted and explained, "Chill, sir. My pop was in the police department and he took me huntin' twice a year. I'm pretty good at it."

Shaojia nodded and said, "Excellent work, Recruit. You are dismissed." Nick ran off to join his friends in the mess hall as Shaojia walked up to the other leaders, whom Jimmy had told the plans for Nick already.

"Does anybody have anything to say about Nick's promotion?" Jimmy asked.

Sheen raised his hand. "Well, Nick's got a good shot, but he's kinda' cowardly. The first time we fought the Yolkians, I think he ran away screaming like a little girl."

Cindy nodded. "True, but since he's a good shot, wouldn't he be out in the back as a sniper or something?"

"Correct, and since he's out in the back, he'll be able to give us a read on the battlefield alongside Sheen. He has to have an extremely good eye for detail to be a proficient hunter if his claims are true," Shaojia added.

"Yeah, but I still don't know. If we just give a guy a promotion just because he can see a little black speck on a white wall, it's gonna' be unfair to everyone else," Libby said. Everyone took a minute to contemplate her logic.

Jimmy shook his head. "Ugh... let's talk about this later," he then turned to Shaojia. "So, where are we going for lunch, the mess hall?"

Shaojia nodded. "Yes, the best way to get respect from your troops is to submit yourself to the same level of work as them meaning we'll be eating lunch with them, and we'll be doing the same routines as them." They all nodded and headed towards the mess hall. (A/N: I'm gonna' skip ahead a few hours due to a lack of ideas... and coffee.)

* * *

Later that night, the leaders of the army of child soldiers (A/N: Whom I shall refer to as 'The Cabinet' from now on) slumped into their meeting room chairs (with the exception of Shaojia who had undergone even more intense training, and Carl and Ibsol who studied the manual all day). Jimmy yawned, "Alright, what's today's report?" He was still in his military uniform, as were the others.

Shaojia put his boot up on the table and leaned back in his chair. "Well for starters," he pulled up the datasheets from before, "our army has two main sharpshooters, Nick and Sheen."

Cindy raised her hand and asked, "What about you? You got two bull's-eyes."

Shaojia sighed. "If I could take on the entire League of Villains, I wouldn't have needed to have to train everyone here. I'm better off in the frontlines, not in the back with a rifle. Truthfully, I hate guns; it's a cowardly weapon that kills men who have trained years and years with swords and staffs only to get picked off by some two-bit punk with a metal pipe that shoots pebbles. I only know how to use the blasted things because it's in the Enforcer training curriculum."

Sheen laid his head on the table. "Pfft, whatever man. The real problem is whether or not Nick should get the promotion or not." With the exception of Carl and Ibsol, everyone nodded.

"Huh? What are you guys talking about?" Carl asked. Ibsol nodded in agreement with his new friend's question.

Shaojia sighed. "We're debating whether or not Nick Dean should be promoted so soon because of his skills." After seeing the still confused looks on they're faces, he added, "Why don't you guys go back to your quarters? Go to the wall scroll with the big Chinese character on it, roll it up, and pick something to eat from the screen for dinner." They nodded immediately and raced out of the room.

Libby groaned. "Speaking of dinner, I'm starvin' over here." Everyone else nodded.

Shaojia sighed and moved over to the Buddha. He took a long red table cover and rolled it out onto the table. "Jimmy, Cindy, mind spreading this out?" They nodded and rolled the cotton cloth over the meeting room table. (A/N: The projector is removable) Shaojia then turned to the rest of the group. "What's everyone up for tonight, Mexican, fast-food, Chinese, or what?"

Their requests were garbled into an unintelligible compound of words which turned into angry yelling, but eventually, everyone finally settled for Mexican food.

"Close your eyes and think of the drink you want. I'll handle the rest," Shaojia instructed. He kneeled between the Buddha and the table and bowed his head in prayer. The room was surrounded in a blinding white light before it dissipated and the rich aroma of gourmet Mexican cooking filled the air. Their were tortillas, freshly grilled beef and chicken slices, quesadillas, tamales... almost every well-known food of Latin American origin that could fit on the table was present with sodas as the main beverage. "Dig in," Shaojia said. He experimentally took a scoop of Spanish rice and put it on his plate. He took the spoon and fork and awkwardly tried to eat with them since he was more accustomed to Chinese cuisine.

Sheen was already on his third taco while the other three ate at a slower pace. "So," he asked through half-chewed tortilla bits. "what's the deal with Nick?"

Jimmy took a drink of his Coke before answering, "I guess it would be a good idea. Like Shaojia told me before, we need a kind of middle man for us and the regular army. We all have our own unique character traits that have established us as suitable leaders. They can't understand what we need them to do sometimes and we can't understand what they want sometimes."

Shaojia nodded. "Right and there's only five of us training them and there are the 210 of them."

Cindy nodded. "We should ask him a few questions first, just to see what he does and how he reacts." They all agreed before delving into their supper.

* * *

As The Cabinet debated, their topic was making his way down the middle corridor of the fifth floor. Nick stopped and stretched out his sore arm socket from the afternoon exercises and wiped the speck of ice cream sundae he and his team had one that afternoon. When he finally made his way to the outside of the meeting room, he knocked on the bamboo door. "Sir," he said. "It's me, Nick Dean. You wanted to see me?"

The conversation inside stopped. There were then a few murmurs made unintelligible by the door and walls in Nick's way, but soon an authoritive, "Enter, recruit," was heard from inside. Nick entered the room to find that it was entirely clean. The meeting room table was cleared of everything except for data sheets. The lights were dimmed so much that he couldn't see anyone's faces or their facial expressions. The figure to his far-left looked pointedly at him, and though it had an unusual crimson T on its face, the figure appeared to be scowling. It spoke, "Recruit, state why you believe we should even consider giving you a rank elevation in such a small amount of time." His, as the voice appeared to be masculine, voice was low and menacing, though it sounded as if it were being filtered through a radio or helmet.

Nick shuddered involuntarily and the figure that had a slight purple glint bouncing off from the few lights of the room noticed it and wrote it down. "Well, sir," he managed to say. "I don't exactly know what you're saying, but I'm the cool guy around here. I can convince most of the kids to look your way." It truly was the only thing he could think of.

The sound of notes being taken echoed through the room. A figure with an extremely funny-looking head on his far-right, which Nick assumed was Jimmy, asked, "Anything else?" His voice was crisp and clear, easily confirming Nick's assumption.

"Well I was able to hit the target thing this morning. None of the other kids could do it," he stated.

The figure next to the one with the shiny purple armor stated, "He's right, y'all. Other than Sheen and Shaojia, he was the only one who could hit the target." Nick assumed it was Libby. Several murmurs of agreement started up, which eased Nick's nerves a little bit.

The one next to Jimmy said, "Alright, but it doesn't matter if you know how to shoot or not. The first time we went up against the Yolkians, you ran away screaming." The criticizing voice turned out to be Cindy. The sound of pencil on paper echoed once more.

Nick blanched. "Uh, well I... actually have bad experience with eggs," he revealed. "When I was young... I tripped and fell into the egg section in Randy's grocery store," he muttered bashfully.

The one in purple armor cried, "The same thing happened to my Uncle Carlos! Why must the good be pelted by eggs! WHY!" It was Sheen. Libby slapped him up side the head for his stupidity, much to everyone's amusement. "OW! Why must the good be hit by their girlfriends!" There was the sound of another smack followed by another and another, then the sound of a body hitting the ground and an aggravated groan from the one with the crimson visor which Nick assumed was Shaojia. (A/N: Finally!)

Shaojia lifted his hand and dismissed Nick, "You may leave now. Wait outside of this meeting room until we call for you. Thank you." Nick nodded and left the room.

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After a good five minutes, Nick was called back into the room. The lights were back on and the Cabinet members were standing at attention. Shaojia and Jimmy had objects behind their backs and Shaojia's helmet was on the table. "Mr. Dean," Shaojia said slowly, "after much discussion, we have decided that we will elevate you slowly. Like the other soldiers in this facility, you can only be promoted through hard work, courage, and vigilance." Nick bowed his head in anticipated disappointment. "These are traits you have shown today, and, according to my fellow officers, in the past. Congratulations, Private Second Class Nick Dean." Shaojia allowed a small smirk at the look of surprise on Nick's face as he handed Nick a gold shoulder pad with his new army insignia on it. "General?"

Jimmy walked up to Nick and held out his hand. "Open your hand, Nick." Nick did as he was told and felt a weight drop into it. He looked into his outstretched hand to see a golden medal pin-on badge with his new rank's insignia on it. "Great job Nick, especially on the simulations."

Sheen reluctantly went up to Nick and shook his hand. "Yeah, yeah whatever. Just do your job. Shaojia says there's a lot of res-us-poniblity, uh reponsibility? No, uh..."

"Responsibility?" Libby finished for him.

"Yeah that's right! Thanks Libs!" Sheen grabbed Libby's hand gently and kissed her hand all the while wiggling his eyebrows suggestively. Libby blushed.

Cindy giggled. "Alright you two, get a room." She then went up to Nick and patted his arm gently. "Good work Nick you deserve it." Jimmy glared at Nick jealously.

Shaojia had an amused expression on his face before it returned to its normal serious form. "Ahem, as Major Estevez had stated, this new position comes with a new responsibility. You must set a good example for your now lower ranking soldiers as well as the young children of this facility," he said knowing he had struck a nerve when he referred to Nick's younger brother.

Nick's joyful face became serious and he saluted. "Thank you, sirs! Ma'ams!"

Shaojia nodded approvingly. "You are dismissed, Private." Nick left and went back to the elevators as everyone else went back to their seats. Shaojia looked around the room. "Alright, now that that's settled, what's next on our agenda?" The Cabinet members prepared themselves for a long night.

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**Finally, the end of Chapter 4. Sorry to all of those who have waited so long for this to come out. I'm now working on Chapter 5! Read and Review! Flames are okay too... I guess.**

**Translations:**

**A/N: All of the following words are in Mandarin Chinese so please do not expect to get a reaction if you say something in Mandarin to someone who can only speak Cantonese Chinese. Thank you.**

**-ge:** (pronounced guh) suffix used for a older male friend or relative

**-mei:** (pronounced may) suffix used for a younger female friend or relative

**a-: **(pronounced uuh) prefix used for people's names only used when the person's name is the first word of the sentence

**She cheng:** (pronounced shuh chung) firing range


	5. There Goes the Neighborhood

**Chapter 5:**

**There Goes the Neighborhood**

**(Chinese) **"**English" **'**Thoughts'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of its characters. I do however own Shaojia, Pao-sung, and Ibsol.**

**Warning: Due to the graphic nature in this chapter, reader discretion is advised.**

**The following chapter you are about to read is not based on a story. The events you are about to read are not real have not happened in real life. The names of the people you are about to read have not been changed to protect the innocent because they were never real to begin with nor have they ever been innocent.

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Shaojia looked around the room. "Alright, now that that's settled, what's next on our agenda?"

"Well, one of the punching bags broke this morning, remember?" said Cindy.

Shaojia nodded. "I'll take care of that soon. We won't be using those too much anyways. We'll only have the troops do the same exercises in the morning as they did this afternoon. It'll be the same thing everyday." There was a collective groan. "Hey, don't blame me! It'll be the same as your educational system. It's worked so far, hasn't it?" Everyone nodded, albeit reluctantly.

Shaojia pressed a button under the table and a large TV screen descended from the ceiling. Sheen stood up and started jumping excitedly. "Ooh! Ooh! Are we going to watch TV! Can we watch Ultralord?"

Shaojia sighed. "No, we're going to monitor the enemy upstairs. It's been two full days since they've invaded. They managed to kidnap all of your parents in one night, so there's no telling what they've accomplished in two." He turned the TV on to show... nothing. He went up to the TV and pressed an intercom key on the side of it. "Computer: Launch probes Alpha and Beta," he commanded. There was a chirp of confirmation from the computer and after a few seconds of silence, the screen lit up into a vertically split image, one showing what appeared to be a mercenary base and a docked Yolkian capitol ship on the other. The capitol ship was swarming with patrolling Yolkians while the mercenary base was actually a series of tents lined up in rows throughout the city. There were a couple of mercenaries coming in and out of homes carrying stolen items, some were smoking, a few were drinking alcohol, but most of them were asleep. By the looks of things, it appeared as if all 500 mercenaries were camped out on the street in front of everyone's house and stretching out in a square perimeter around the block, but not a single one was out on patrol from the current angle. There were campfires on in between every ten tents. Shaojia couldn't decide whether all of this was a stroke of good luck or bad luck. "I'm leaving," he said in a monotone voice.

Jimmy was alarmed. "Leaving! Why?"

Shaojia pointed to the mercenary base. "They're too close for comfort, and they're off guard. I can sneak into the base and take them all out so we only have to worry about the Loyalists and Calamitous's robots."

Jimmy shook his head. "No, it's too dangerous. If you're captured, or worse killed, we're all doomed!"

"DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!" screeched Sheen.

Cindy ignored Sheen. "He's right, Shaojia. We can attack later, but not now."

Shaojia growled. "We can't do that. CelestiCorp was founded only four years before I joined and its technology is actually limited. Sure they can generate things the universes have created already, but they're horrible at making things themselves that don't involve fancy magic ticks. If the entrance of this base, that shed you all entered yesterday, is destroyed, the entire base could implode." Everyone gasped. "And by the looks of things, Eustace isn't getting every bang for his buck; these guys are just uneducated simple guns-for-hire. They're prone to blow something up by mistake... including this facility." To prove his point, one of the smoking mercenaries tripped over an ammunitions crate, and his cigarette landed on another's hat and set it a blaze. "Well, at least I now have something to cover my entrance," he joked dryly.

Jimmy sighed and massaged his temples. "I guess you're right; we don't have a choice, but at least let two of us come along. We need battle experience and we might be able to help you out."

Shaojia sighed. "No, it's too risky for you. I've gone up against galactic dictatorships; I've killed people with my bare hands. If you need experience, watch this video feed. You guys can be my eyes in the sky and tell me if I missed anyone. Be careful though; my methods are horror-movie worthy." They all paled slightly. He pointed to a headset on a hook next to the TV. "You can use that to contact me." Just press the red button on the side to turn it on and talk into it like you would to a phone. I have an implant in my throat that allows me to hear and speak to you."

Jimmy reluctantly agreed. "Alright, if you're sure about this."

Shaojia fixed the settings on the side of the TV. The screen that was originally showing the Yolkian capitol ship was now blank. "I've set up the other probe to follow me around. The probes are very small; about the size of a grain of sand. It'll activate when I leave the facility.

"How will you get out?" asked Cindy. "I didn't see an exit anywhere here."

Shaojia sighed. "There's a teleporter in the docking bay; that's how our ships will get in and out too. Since I'm a person, the teleporter will transport me to the shed. For the ships, it's usually about 10,000 feet in the air. When you get teleported back here, you're transported to the ground level of this facility. I'll be leaving in 15 minutes. I need to get my weapons packed." They all nodded and prayed for their new friend's safety.

* * *

Shaojia stepped out of the shed and into his above ground 'base.' He was in his normal outfit minus his outer robe, and his swords hung by his hip along with a long rope dart. He was back in his half-demon form and he flexed his claws experimentally. He raced into his old base and hid in the shadows. A lone guard walked around whistling a simple tune and looking for something to steal. Shaojia sniffed the air to see if their were any other guards in the vicinity. Sensing nothing, Shaojia crept up beside the guard and swept him off of his feet. He then grabbed the guard as he fell, covered his mouth before he could scream, and slammed the guard's spine spine onto his knee, breaking it. There were horrified gasps on the other side of his communications line. 'I warned them,' Shaojia thought wistfully. 

He dragged the dead body into a the kitchen and stuffed it into the oven. Shaojia raced outside and surveyed the scen while hiding in a cluster of nearby bushes. By now the cigarrette problem from earlier had escalated; the guy whose hat was set on fire was running around as most of the other mercenaries laughed and jeered while the rest tried to put out the fire. In the distance a group of three patrolling guards were walking too close to his position. 'Probably looking for their pal,' he mused. 'They'll be meeting up with him real soon.' He unhooked the rope dart from his sash and took the 'hilt' of the dart in his hand. He threw it quickly, and it went throught the chest of one of the guards. Shaojia jerked the rope quickly to make it go in a circle, killing the other guards with identical chest wounds. Shaojia caught the dart that was coming back at him in his free hand, released it, and jerked the rope so that it same back the other way. Shaojia pressed his Adam's apple to activate his implant and whispered, "If you guys aren't too scared right now, can you tally up that I have four confirmed kills? I've got 496 more to go."

Shaojia sprinted silently towards the nearest tent in the mercenary camp. They had finally gotten the fire out but the unlucky victim was on the ground writhing in pain. Shaojia look around. There were about 40 mercenaries still clustered around the area, but none of them could see him, for he was in the shadows. Shaojia then saw a nearby lantern on a wooden crate with the flame still lit. Shaojia felt around the ground for a rock he could throw, succeeded, and threw it at the lantern's base. It was a direct hit and the lantern fell over, spillling flames on the crate it was on and setting it as well as the tent it was next to on fire. Men screamed as the two sleeping in the tent tried to exit, but it was too late. They were set on fire and ran chaotically around the camp and lit other people and objects on fire. One of the original people in the tent finally stumbled upon something that made Shaojia's job quite easy: a can of lighter fluid.

It exploded after the unlucky mercenary kicked it over in his frenzy, killing him instantly as well as setting five surrounding tents on fire. Luckily for the mercenaries, they had all been awoken by the screaming human torches and were already out of the tent. Shaojia reassessed the situation. The man who had already been set on fire was dead from frantic boots, the man who wasn't blown to bits was being hit by towels to kill the fire, and then there was the gut who was blown to bits. "Two more confirmed kills, General," he muttered to the team on the other side of the line.

He then decided to take the initiative and took out the rope dart again. He rolled out into the middle of the streets and throught the dart where all of the mercenaries were located. There were several rips of human flesh and bone until the rope drew taut, and Shaojia extracted his dart and put it back into his sash after flicking the blood off of it. He unsheathed his broadsword and charged through the camp, slicing at all nearby mercenaries. After he had made a complete lap around the block, it was around 2 o'clock. Shaojia kneeled down with the bloody sword still in his hand and surveyed the scene.

The entire base was destroyed, but the fires had been put out when Shaojia sliced down the tents. It appeared as if he had also missed a few mercenaries but there were only five he could see from where he was. Shaojia activated his implant. "General? Vortex? Estevez? Anyone there?"

There was a momentary pause until Jimmy's voice was heard. "I-I'm here, Shaojia. I sent everyone else to bed; I didn't want them to see this anymore. Cindy's still here though; she wouldn't leave." A light snore and then a chuckle was heard. "Despite all of... this, she still fell asleep."

Shaojia nodded. "I warned you," he reminded.

Jimmy sighed. "I-I know, but I've seen so much that I can kind of see your battlefield logic."

Shaojia shook his head. "Well, don't get too into it. You're a scientist, not a warrior. The fact of the matter is that you have no choice but to fight. Anyways, can you tell me how many I have left? I know there's at least 5."

Back at the base, Jimmy was checking on a note pad he used for tallying up Shaojia's kills while Cindy slept soundly leaned up against hime, her head on his shoulder. "I counted 492 here."

Shaojia nodded. "Thanks. You might want to go to bed now, or at least take Cindy to her bed. It's late and I have a few 'things' planned for these mercs."

Jimmy shook his head. "Alright, I'll take her to bed but don't do anything yet. I don't know why but this is just too fascinating; it's kind of like a cross between a horror movie and a Kung Fu movie." He picked cindy up bridal style and deposited her onto his bed. "Alright, I'm back."

Shaojia groaned. "About time." He flicked the blood that hadn't completely dried off of his sword and sheathed it. He walked menacingly towards the camp. "So, you think this is like a Kung Fu movie, huh Jimmy?"

Jimmy was perplexed by the warrior's question but replied, "Yeah, kinda' why?"

Shaojia smirked. "Well here's where the Kung Fu movie really starts." Shaojia stepped up to one of the mercenaries. Surprisingly, they were all unharmed minus a few cuts and burn marks here and there. They were also unarmed.

The mercenary looked up alarmed and asked in a fear filled voice, "What are you?"

Shaojia bared one of his fangs to the scared man. "A messanger. The devil would like to see you now." Not even a second after he finished his statement did Shaojia grab the man by the neck and flung him into two of his buddies. The remaining five walked up to him. Shaojia smiled at them intimidatingly. "But he says that you don't have to go if you can kill me," he dared them.

One of them men gulped and ran towards Shaojia with a broken 2 X 4 in his hands. Shaojia side-stepped him and snapped his foot up into the man's face. There was a sickening snap as the man's head did a complete 90 degree tilt, and he fell to the ground dead. The remaining four foolishly charged Shaojia all at once. He jumped 10 feet in the air and mule kicked the man in the center in the base of his head, crushing that area of skull along with the brain. There were three men left. Shaojia got into a low stance after he landed and waited for the rest to attack again. One of them charged at him and attempted to punch him, but Shaojia grabbed his fist in his hand and drew him into an anticipating, clawed hand. Shaojia extracted his hand out of the man's back through his front and flicked the blood off. The remaining man charged at him with a nearby hunting knife, but Shaojia grabbed the blade in between two fingers, yanked it out of his hand, and shoved it through the mercenary's heart.

The three that had been knock down looked at Shaojia first in shock, then in fear, and finally in anger. They looked around for weapons. One found another hunting knife, another found a broken chair leg, and the last found an empty beer bottle. The one with the knife charged at Shaojia first, but Shaojia thrusted his foot out and caught the man in the stomach and causing him toloose grip of his knife. Shaojia grabbed it in midaid, ran up to the man he had just kicked, sliced his jugular vein, and threw the knife at the man with the chair leg. The man lifted the leg to block the knife, but the force of the throw was so strong that the knife actually pinned the chair leg to the man's skull, and buried itself all the way up to the hilt. The remaining man charged Shaojia with the bottle, intending to club him over the head with it. Shaojia only grabbed the bottle's butt, yanked it out of the man's hand, and crushed it in his hand. Blood flowed freely down Shaojia's hand as he did a backflip and cocked back his hand as if he were about to throw something. "BLOODY SPEAR!" Shaojia roared. His bleeding hand glowed an eerie crimson before he thrusted it forwards and a glowing band of blood with a pointed tip shot from his palm. The 'spear' ripped through the man's chest, right below his lungs, and stuck out of his back before fading away completely. Shaojia walked up to the dying man, who had blood seeping out of the corner of his mouth. Shaojia placed a hand under the man's chin and another on the top of his bald head, and jerked them out in opposite directions. The man's neck snapped with a sickening crack before the man fell onto the ground dead.

Shaojia thumbed his implant and said, "You sure you still want to call this a movie?"

Jimmy stuttered, "N-no. Did you have to kill them all, though?"

Shaojia sighed as he made his way through the halls of his old base. "Unfortunately, yes. I don't like having to kill people like that, but if I don't the infinite lives of other universes are destroyed instead of the meaningless lives of 500 mercenaries who have thrown away their lives for money," he spat.

Jimmy slowly nodded. "I... understand now."

Shaojia crossed the backyard to get to the shed. "Get some sleep, Jimmy," he ordered. "It's nearly 3 in the morning and-" Shaojia sniffed the air. 'It can't be!' he thought. He continued to scan his surroundings.

"Shaojia?" Jimmy asked. He looked at the screen intensely to help determine what Shaojia was looking for.

Shaojia dove forward- just in the nick of time to avoid a virtually invisible kick that made a small dent in the earth. Shaojia kicked off the ground to land on the branch of a nearby tree. "Damn," he muttered. His golden eyes surveyed the area for any sudden movement. He jumped down to the ground and rolled before spinning his legs in a tripping attack. He got into a low stance with his rope dart gripped by the hilt and he grabbed the figure that he had tripped before it got the chance to hit the ground. "Now, you know better than to do that," Shaojia scolded softly. He held the figure gently in one arm while he put the dart back in his sash.

The figure turned out to be a very beautiful girl around the age of 11 or 12 in a dark blue, long-sleeved women's cheongsam with pink floral patterns on the front and crimson highlights on the shoulders. She spoke softly in"Ni hao, Shaojia-ge."

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**Kinda' short, violent chapter after a 9,000 chapter! Read & Review. **

**Translations:**

Ni hao (pronounced nee how) Hello


	6. Retreat

**Chapter 6:**

**Retreat**

**(Chinese) **"**English" **'**Thoughts'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of its characters. I do, however, own Shaojia and Ibsol. I also don't own any actual game names or companies seen here. If I did, I would have bought the rights to any book/anime/cartoon/etc. I plan on making a fan fiction about. **

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**A/N: Recently I have found a few MIDI files with very profound and beautifully executed pieces of music. These pieces will never belong to me either. If you want to have a full grasp of what's happening and the entire mood of the situation, go to the websites in Author's Notes parentheses and follow the instructions to get to the MIDI file. I know this sounds confusing so here's an example:**

Blah, blah blah blah blah. (A/N: Go to 'blank dot com' and click on, 'link name.')

**Thank you for reading, now onto the new chapter. **

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Shaojia lifted the beautiful girl up to her feet and opened the door to the shed. "You've got a lot of explaining to do, Meiling." Meiling nodded and entered the shed as Shaojia chanted the password. Back in the meeting room, Jimmy stared at the scene in shock. Shaojia, the young, demon warrior who had slain 500 mercenaries almost effortlessly, had just invited his attacker into the base. Even more surprising is that Shaojia obviously knew the assailant and had yet to kill her.

When the two had reached the main lobby of the base, Shaojia silently led them to the elevator. Meiling bit her lip and looked up to Shaojia, who was at least a full head taller than her. (A-Shaojia-ge, are you... mad?) she asked.

Shaojia sighed. (It truly depends on your answer, Meiling-mei. Now, mind telling me why you followed me here? I thought I told you to stay back in the village.)

Meiling lowered her head to hide her blush. (I-I missed you,) she muttered softly. (You had just gotten back from a mission four months ago and I just got too used to you being around.)

Shaojia looked at Meiling in surprise. (You missed me?) he asked. Meiling nodded. (Why? You have the other children to play with. Don't you have Yinju to keep you company? What about Jumei?)

Meiling sighed. (I like their company, but... at night... I keep having nightmares.) A few tears accumulated in her eyes as bits of her nightmares collected themselves in her mind.

Shaojia frowned. (Nightmares? About what?)

Meiling sniffed. (I keep dreaming... that you would die in battle and never come back.)

Shaojia bent down a little bit and wiped away the stray tears falling from Meiling's chocolate brown eyes. (Shh, it's alright. I'll always come back to you. I promise.)

Meiling looked up to Shaojia, her eyes holding enough hope to probably kill a pessimist. (Y-you promise?)

Shaojia smiled. (I promise. Now that we have that out of the way, how in all of the 7 Hells did you get here?) Shaojia then groaned and asked in a bored tone, (You didn't threaten Yangli-gong again, did you?) Shaojia vividly remembered the last response he got from the old tortoise demon that was in charge of sending Enforcers to and from different universes. Somehow, Meiling had gotten a kitchen knife and threatened the poor old man with it.

Meiling gave Shaojia a dry look. (No, I asked him nicely this time,) she muttered.

Shaojia raised a skeptical eyebrow. (Nicely?) Meiling nodded. 'Well,' Shaojia mused, 'I don't detect the scent of deception on her. That means that the old bastard's got a few answers for me when I finish with this gods-forsaken mission.' Finally, the elevator door opened to reveal a rather cautious Jimmy strafing towards the elevator brandishing a butter knife. Shaojia's eyebrow ticked in annoyance. "And just what do you think you're doing?"

Jimmy continued to look warily at Meiling. He glanced briefly over to Shaojia and asked, "Why did you invite her here? Didn't she just attack you?"

Meiling pouted and folded her arms. "I was only playing..." She looked back up to Shaojia. "A-Shaojia-ge, who is the boy with the funny-looking hair?" Jimmy sputtered indignantly while Shaojia chuckled.

Shaojia put his hands on her shoulders. "Meiling, this is Jimmy Neutron. He's the guy I've been assigned to make sure that this universe isn't blown into tiny, little pieces." Meiling giggled then yawned. Shaojia scowled and looked back up to Jimmy. "Hey Jimmy, can we play 20 Questions later, preferably tomorrow? Training starts at 8 and you humans need rest." Jimmy yawned and nodded and went off to his room. Shaojia looked over to Meiling who was leaning slightly on his arm for balance. (Come on, Meiling-mei. Time for bed.) Shaojia scooped Meiling into his arms.

When they arrived in Shaojia's room, Shaojia gently tucked Meiling into his bed. He shed his inner robe and armor vest and draped it over the chair his outer robe was on, leaving him only in a pale, white, cotton underrobe and his black pants. He was about to take a cushion from the couch opposite to the bed for him to sleep on, but he was stopped by small whimpering sounds coming from Meiling. Shaojia gently shook her awake at first, then firmly. (A-Meiling-mei, wake-up! Wake-up! You're having a bad dream!)

Meiling's eyes slowly fluttered open. Suddenly, she flung herself onto Shaojia, sobbing into his shoulder. (A-a-Shaojia-ge, I-I had that- that dream again!)

Shaojia scooped her up and sat on the bed and pat her back in a comforting manner. (Shh, shh, it's alright, Meiling-mei. I'm alright, I'm not dead, I'm not going anywhere,) he reassured her.

Meiling tugged at his robes when he started to rise. Shaojia looked at her and she blushed. (Please, Shaojia-ge, don't leave. C-can, you...) she blushed. (...can you stay here? I-I don't want to have another nightmare.) Shaojia nodded and climbed onto the bed. He set his back straight against the wall. Meiling climbed in after him and set her head on his lap, using it as a pillow. Shaojia sighed. It was 3 in the morning and training starts again at 8. 'Tomorrow is going to be a long day,' he thought mournfully.

* * *

Cindy opened her eyes to find herself in her bed. 'Strange,' she thought, 'wasn't I in the meeting room last night?' She slowly got up and stretched her arms out. She looked over to Jimmy to see him sprawled out on the floor, his pillow and sheets piled up on top of him. She giggled to herself and went to the bathroom to wash up.

About ten minutes later, Cindy exited the washroom, fully decked out in her military uniform, to find Jimmy still asleep on the floor. 'He must have been up all night keeping track of things for Shaojia,' she mused. Then it hit her. Shaojia. She quickly but quietly opened the bamboo door and ran into the meeting room. She looked all around the room. There was Libby, Sheen, Carl, Ibsol... but Shaojia was nowhere to be seen. "Guys," she asked, "where's Shaojia?"

Libby wiped off the bread crumbs from her uniform and replied. "I didn't see him anywhere but I heard the elevator 'ding' a few minutes ago. I guess if it wasn't you or Jimmy, it must've been him."

"Yeah, either that or it's his ghost haunting the base!" Sheen joked.

Suddenly, a loud, angry, and very unamused voice was heard and it made Sheen pale in fear. "I heard that, Estevez! Drop and give me twenty!" Sheen instantly dropped to the ground and started doing as many push-ups as he could as Shaojia entered the room in full military uniform. He turned to the other people in the room. "The troops are up and having breakfast." He then turned to Cindy. "Where's Jimmy?"

Cindy giggled to herself again. "Oh, he's still asleep. He must've been pretty tired. What time did you get back, anyway?"

Shaojia walked over to the Buddha and grabbed two bowls. "Some time around 2 or 3 in the morning," he muttered before getting up with two full bowls of rice congee. (A/N: It's a type of rice porridge. Pretty good stuff.)

Carl was the first to notice the extra bowl of food. "Hey, Shaojia, why do you have two bowls?"

Shaojia sighed. "I had an unexpected visitor last night. I'll show her to you later. I just need to have a little word with her first." Shaojia exited the room and made his was to the room he and Meiling shared the night before. He smiled kindly as he entered the room; Meiling was still in the bundle of sheets she had wrapped herself in when he had left her that morning. He smiled and put the bowls on the table beside his bed. He gently shook Meiling awake. (A-Meiling-mei, wake up.)

Meiling slowly opened her eyes and smiled sweetly at Shaojia. (Good morning, Shaojia.) Shaojia smiled and handed Meiling a bowl of congee. (Thank you.)

Shaojia gulped down a big clump of wet rice and asked, (So what do you plan to do now? You know I don't want you to come with me into battle and this is a military facility. In addition, those damn transporters will only work AFTER I finish this mission.)

Meiling sighed and took a regular clump of rice from her bowl. (Can we just do what we did last time?) She put her bowl down as well.

Shaojia put his now-empty bowl down and sighed. (What, let you help out with the battle plans?) Meiling nodded. Shaojia tipped his head back in thought for a bit before answering. (I guess we don't have much choice. You're definitely not going to stay in my room all day and I am not going to train you as a soldier.)

Meiling jumped up and tackled Shaojia to the ground. (Thank you, thank you, thank you! I'll promise I'll be good!)

Shaojia laughed and pulled her off of him. (Alright, alright! Stop it! Now finish your breakfast and then we can go meet your new co-workers.) Meiling nodded and downed the rest of her congee. Shaojia gave her an amused smirk and led her out the door.

When they finally arrived at the meting room, Jimmy was already awake and eating a bowl of Rice Krispies. Everyone else was finished and was looking expectantly at Shaojia and the new girl. Cindy was the one to voice the question on everyone's minds. "Hey, Shaojia, who's that?"

Shaojia smiled. "She's an old friend of mine. She'll be the tactical strategist for the duration of this mission."

Sheen scoffed. "As if! What can she do? She's just a little girl!"

Surprisingly, Meiling growled. "I'm not a little girl, weird-o! I actually helped the Enforcers during four civil wars!"

Shaojia frowned. "It was only three. The war in Q-15 was only a skirmish," he scolded.

Cindy looked at Meiling in admiration and shock. "You... you're an Enforcer, too?" She glanced slightly to Shaojia and shivered as the images she had seen before she had went to sleep came back to her mind.

Meiling waved her hands out in front of her defensively. "No, no, of course not! Shaojia would never let me join!" She took a cautious glance at Shaojia who nodded in approval. "Though I would like to..." she muttered accidentally. When she caught her mistake, she silently hoped he would not here her.

Hope was not with her as Shaojia clenched his fist in anger and turned his head completely towards Meiling. "You will not! You've seen the things done on the battlefield! You've even seen the things I've had to do! I forbid it!" He waved his arm to the side in a dramatic conclusion

Libby scratched the back of her head as Carl and Ibsol excused themselves and slinked off to their stations in the communications center. Really, their sixth senses were telling them that now would have been a good time to leave before things decided to get messy. "Why are you all up in her grill, anyways, Shaojia? We're all going into war," Libby stated.

Shaojia sighed. "That is because it is your place as the native warriors of this universe. I am an official Enforcer whereas Meiling is my charge. She has no place in the battlefield even if she is a brilliant tactitioner."

Sheen looked at Meiling in surprise. "Charge? She's a battery!" He then started to point accusingly at Meiling while Libby hid her face in embarrassment.

Jimmy coughed slightly to distract everyone from Sheen's idiocy. "Uh... Sheen, I think that Shaojia meant a servant or someone like that, not a battery," he explained to his dimwitted friend.

Shaojia growled. "She's not my servant," he spat. "She is only a person whom I take care of. It's not as if I'm a lord with many servants to do my bidding."

Meiling giggled. "That is kind of ironic considering that you're the heir to the Demonic Imperial throne."

While everyone gasped at this revelation, Shaojia countered, "That doesn't mean I'm a lord! I refused the throne and killed half of the officials!"

Meiling rolled her eyes. "Yeah, yeah, you've told me that story almost every time I ask you why you didn't accept the position."

"Because I don't want to be working with the people who killed my parents!"

"You killed all of them already!"

"It was only half of them! Some of the other half only had a limb torn off!"

As Shaojia and Meiling argued, Sheen walked up to Jimmy. "So is the mercenary camp like... destroyed?" he asked.

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, he practically leveled the camp with that sword of his." Jimmy shuddered at the mass-destruction he had seen the night before.

Meiling sighed. "Look this is going nowhere. Don't you have some troops to train or something, _General_?" Everyone froze and looked bewilderedly over at Shaojia. 'Shit,' he thought.

"General?" Libby asked. "I thought you were a Colonel."

Shaojia scratched the back of his head before shooting a glare at Meiling that clearly read 'I'll deal with you later.' "Uh, heh, heh, heh, um... well..." he started, "I am technically the General of the Army for the W-12 Enforcers Unit, but I'm only a Colonel in the Enforcers United Defense Force."

Meiling thrived in her companion's discomfort, especially since it was so rare to get that type of reaction from the brutal and merciless demon. "You're a general in that, too!"

Shaojia sputtered indignantly. "Alright, fine! I am a high-ranking officer in both armies! Jeez, what's the problem in that?"

Sheen sat up in his chair. "I'll tell you what the problem is! You've made Jimmy have to give out orders while you sit around with a general's badge on your bed! Why didn't you take power in the beginning?" He rushed over and grabbed Jimmy's head on both sides, shaking it erratically with his every word. "I mean look at his huge head! He can't handle any more stress!"

Jimmy tried to pry his friend's hands away from his head. "Sheen! Let go!"

Shaojia sighed and pulled up a chair, completely ignoring the foolish squabble. "It's because I believe in chances. You guys are all new to this and you need to be given first-hand experience, not simple lessons and instructions. My father once said, 'The mind can only learn what all of the senses tell it.' You wouldn't have learned anything if I just took charge of everything and gave you a 'To Do' list. This way, if there are more problems in the future, I won't have to waste time by training everyone again and again because the lesson has already been learned. Besides, this universe had just been assigned its protector and it is not my place, general or not, to take that protector's place."

Jimmy was now confused. "Wait, 'had just been assigned?' What does that mean?"

Shaojia sighed once more. "It means that before, your universe was not categorized. Think of it like this. You know that there are more than a hundred kinds of fish-"

"More than 10,000 actually," Jimmy interrupted.

Shaojia pinched the bridge of his nose. "Alright, fine! There are more than 10,000 kinds of fish, and there are probably more to be discovered. These fish haven't been discovered, labeled, or categorized yet, but that doesn't mean that they don't exist. The same goes for the universes. Just because a universe doesn't have a protector, that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. It only means that either it doesn't have problems that threaten its existence or that other universes don't have problems that threaten theirs. For example, I was called in to become an Enforcer when Universe P-19 was in intergalactic turmoil; the central government their Earth had established with other planets and galaxies was falling apart, and the Enforcers appointed to its protection were either dead or were stranded in some unknown place, so-"

Once again, he was interrupted, this time by Cindy. "Wait, each universe has more than one Enforcer?"

Shaojia groaned before answering. "Yes. You know how most Kung Fu movies or action movies have this kind of 'Chosen One' character?" They all nodded. "Same goes for the Enforcers. There is one Chosen Warrior for each universe, but there are also other strong warriors who fight along side him or protect their native universe if the Chosen Warrior is on assignment or is recovering from injuries. Now are there any other questions before I move on with my war story?" No one said anything. "Good, now as I was saying, when Universe P-19 had their Civil War, warriors from my Enforcer Unit, as well as others, had to unite and eliminate the troublemakers. However, in most cases, the supreme ruling deity of one universe has already appointed a Chosen Warrior, but he or she is either too weak, too young, or is inefficient in battle, such as this universe."

"Hey!" Jimmy yelled indignantly.

Shaojia ignored him and continued, "In such a case, an Enforcer from a different universe, in this case me, has to teach the Chosen Warrior, in this case Jimmy, how to be a protector and general. That way, if there is another crisis elsewhere, the Chosen Warrior can solve his own problems. He is also automatically the general of the entire Enforcer division by birth right. The Enforcer division is just a bunch of warriors who have voluntarily vowed to protect their universe, in this case Libby, Cindy, Carl, and Sheen."

"We didn't volunteer!" Sheen retorted.

Meiling rolled her eyes. "Well from the looks of things, you're still alive and to have done that you must have at least listened to Jimmy."

Shaojia nodded. "If you had failed to follow Jimmy's orders, you'd be another battlefield victim by now. Anyways, that's settled. I'm only general of my universe and Jimmy's the general of this universe, case closed, Meiling." Meiling responded with a sneer and the immature act of sticking out her tongue. (A/N: Hey, if you can find a better way of explaining it, tell me! If not, shut your trap, Yappy O'Malley... and find a better insulting name for yourself, too!)

Jimmy sighed. "Well let's just get started. The troops should be done eating by now." Everyone nodded and proceeded to leave the room except for Shaojia and Meiling, whom were crowded around the TV. "Meiling, Shaojia, are you guys coming?"

Shaojia looked up and shook his head. "Not yet. I want to check on the Yolkians and see what our situation is right now. Meiling, take the headset and go with Jimmy. I want you to relay any messages to the troops that I may have. General, just run the show like I did yesterday afternoon. You'll do fine." They both reluctantly and left. He turned on the TV screen and punched a few commands into the system. Instantly, a security image lit up the screen showing the docked Yolkian ships. It was bustling with activity and the bodies of the mercenaries Shaojia had slain from the night before were nowhere to be seen. A sudden glint of light reflecting off of a piece of metal in the morning sunlight caught his attention. Using the monitor's controls, he zoomed in to see something that would most likely disrupt the flow of the mission; it was a very, very large bomb-like object. He hit the computer's voice-activated controls and commanded, "Computer: Run weapons scan N-45/A." There was a chirp of acknowledgement from the computer as the screen turned an analyzing shade of green, much like that of a ship's radar system. Shaojia's fears were confirmed as the computer displayed an incredibly high power of energy coming from the bomb; so high that it easily shadowed over the combined atomic readout for the bombs dropped at Hiroshima and Nagasaki in most universes. Shaojia stared at the screen in despair. He keyed his throat communicator and said in a dread-filled voice, "Meiling, tell the General that we have a situation here."

* * *

Ceasil Uglavinirik hovered over to the group of engineers huddled near the weapon that would most definitely destroy the Devil-Spawn, Jimmy Neutron, along with all of his underlings. "Engineers! Status!" he bellowed through the voice amplifier built into his Yolkian battle armor.

The two engineers closest to him cringed in their protective environmental suits. One of them replied, "The device is of optimum performance, Captain. We should be ready to activate it within three Earth hours."

The Yolkian beside him punched his visor. "Not three, Islak, you incompetent fool! We can activate it in two!"

From the other end of the bomb, another Yolkian engineer threw a captured Earth wrench at the one called Islak. "Dopsil is rrrright," he bellowed, trilling his 'r's. "Besides, I don't want to be stuck herrre any longer than Ourrr King commands; have you seen the destrrruction wrrrought upon the human militants' camp?" The reports had come in roughly fifteen minutes ago when a scouting party saw a severed human head rolling towards their ship. They curiously went on ahead to find the ruins of the mercenary camp, all of its former inhabitants strewn across the ground covered in their own life-giving fluids.

All of the Yolkians present nodded. "Yes," Ceasil commented, "whoever was responsible is either working for the Devil's Legion, the Heretics, or is another problem that Our Great King Goobot must defeat." He then turned to the engineers. "Anyways, your progress is sublime. I shall inform King Goobot at once." He proceeded to thrust out his right arm joint with the palm facing down. "Hail King Goobot!"

* * *

Jimmy struggled to get his head up for his 29th sit-up. 'I wish Shaojia wouldn't forget that he's a demon and we're only humans when he gives us something to do,' he thought bitterly. Shaojia had assigned everyone, including himself, to do 50 sit-ups everyday as well as 25 push-ups, and 100 jumping jacks. Suddenly Meiling, who was sitting patiently beside him, sat upright as Shaojia's muffled voice came out the other side of the headset she was wearing. "R-right," she said, her voice etched with fear and dread. She didn't understand what was happening, but by the sound of Shaojia's voice, it wasn't very good. She turned to Jimmy and handed him the headset before saying, "Sh-Shaojia wants to talk to you."

Jimmy reluctantly nodded and accepted the headset. "What is it?" he asked Shaojia as he got up off of the gym floor.

Shaojia's voice came through the headset, mildly muffled and staticy from interference. "The Yolkians have a bomb. I think they're planning on setting it off. I've been monitoring it for a while and according to the sound interface, they'll be setting it off by noon today."

Jimmy gulped and wiped a new cloak of sweat that was accumulating on his forehead, this one not being caused by the vicious exercise routine he had to follow. "A-a b-bomb! Today!" he asked hysterically but quietly as to not upset the other children.

On the other side of the line, Shaojia was watching the scene in front of him gravely. "Yes, and from the communications coming in, they're planning on dropping it off in downtown Retroville, and getting as far away from there as possible. I think that this bomb has enough power to destroy the entire state."

Jimmy gulped and nodded. "What are we going to do?"

Shaojia sighed and tapped the side of his head in concentration. "Let's see here... ah, I know! Hold on a second..." Suddenly, an intercom was heard going on in the entire complex as Shaojia's voice bellowed from the randomly assorted speakers. "Attention, attention, all personnel. Get to the assembly hall immediately. Your life is at risk. Make your way to the assembly hall, I repeat, make your way to the assembly hall. That is a direct order." Jimmy was about to ask what that was all about but Shaojia beat him to it. "No time to explain. Just get to the assembly hall pronto."

"Alright, if you say so," Jimmy replied before running off with the other children.

* * *

Shaojia made his way to the assembly hall to find the Cabinet members talking amongst themselves on the balcony as the soldiers did the same on the ground floor. Cindy broke off from her conversation with Jimmy and marched up to Shaojia. "Alright, Shaojia, you've got some explaining to do!" she demanded.

Shaojia ignored her threat and walked up to the podium. "Ahem, everyone settle down. Now, as I am sure, you all are very, very confused. Allow me to explain." He pressed a button underneath the podium and a colossal TV screen, much like the one in the meeting room, descended from the ceiling. The same security footage he had watched before was now playing on the new screen. "As some of you can see, the Yolkians are planning to detonate a bomb in downtown Retroville at noon today. We have less than three hours to disable it, but that's not the real problem. The real problem is that as long as we stay here, our enemies will continue to attack us with several weapons of mass destruction. After the bomb problem is dealt with, we will be leaving immediately for Earth's atmosphere. We will then continue your training, only in space. Any questions?" No one made a motion to move. "Good, you are dismissed for the rest of the day until we enter the Earth's atmosphere. Go play games in the rec center, go to sleep, anything that doesn't kill you, someone else, or destroy the base. I understand that this is a great toll on everyone's nerves and I, along with the rest of your leaders here, have agreed to grant you a momentary day off to get yourselves back in order. Don't ruin it. Thank you for your time here; you're dismissed."

After he stepped down from the podium, Sheen confronted him. "So, how are we going to solve the 'town-goes-boom' problem, anyways?"

Shaojia patted the swords by his side. "I have an idea."

Jimmy jumped up in alarm immediately. "Not again! You're not going up an entire Yolkian warship crew alone!"

"And you think it's a better to send a pack of untrained soldiers into real combat?" Shaojia retorted.

Jimmy bit his lip thoughtfully. Shaojia had him cornered on that one. Luckily for him, Cindy jumped in. "Wait isn't he supposed to be our leader or something? Whatever he says goes!" Jimmy shot Cindy a grateful look which went unnoticed by everyone else.

Shaojia growled ferociously before abruptly turning away, his cape flapping menacingly to give him an evil air. "Fine! Have it your way! You can come along if you want, but I'll be sure to have a little chat with you when I track you down in the Netherworld." He turned back to the group. "Now who's coming?" Though the idea of Shaojia going alone was highly protested, only Jimmy and Cindy actually volunteered to fight with him. Shaojia raised an amused eyebrow. "Then again, this could work well to my advantage," he muttered. He looked over to the remaining leaders. "The rest of you stay either in your quarters or in the meeting room. I need someone to patch me in on the bomb's status."

Meiling raised her hand cheerfully. "You can count on me!"

Shaojia glared over at her. "I will not allow you to watch something like what is about to happen, Meiling!"

Meiling sighed. "It's alright, Shaojia-ge. I've seen things like this before, remember?"

Shaojia gritted his fangs before responding. "Fine, you can handle the mission recon." He looked back over to Jimmy and Cindy. "I want you two to get to the tenth floor as quickly as possible but get yourselves some battle armor from the matter generator in the meeting room, first. You should know how it works by now. I'll meet you there later. I have to make sure that the probes are ready for recon to help us out. It could take a while."

He ran off as quickly as possible to his room, leaving Jimmy and Cindy to look at each other in disbelief. Jimmy asked Cindy, "Um, did we just..."

"Volunteer for a suicide mission with a battle-crazed maniac?" Cindy finished. "Pretty much, yeah."

"Uh-oh," they muttered in unison.

* * *

Shaojia stepped out of the elevator and onto the tenth floor wearing the same battle outfit he wore before except this time he wore the outer robe. The entire room was cold, harsh, and metallic, just like the firing range below. Aircraft from around the world were adorning the cold floors of the docking bay portion of the level while shelves upon shelves of weapons of mass destruction aligned themselves in thousands of rows. The ceiling was a sharp contrast to the rest of the room, however, as it glowed an eerie, white light that seemed to eat at the air itself.

Shaojia walked past the war planes and weapons until he reached Jimmy and Cindy, whom were waiting at the teleporter, which was just a large, glowing, white square. Jimmy was dressed in a crimson, body-encasing battle armor that seemed to be made of solid titanium. A black ninja-type mask was strapped across his mouth and tied in the back. Cindy was in similar armor except it was jade green. Jimmy looked over to Shaojia. "Alright, we're set to go," he told him.

Shaojia smirked and pointed to Jimmy's weaponless form. "Really? And how do you intend to fight the Yolks? Are you planning on throwing rocks at them?"

Jimmy pulled his hypercube from out of his pocket. He reached into it and pulled out a laser sword. He activated it and it glowed a bright blue shade. "This is my Slice 'n' Dice 3000!" he cheered proudly. "It's capable of eliminating weeds in seconds. Of course, in this case I'll be using it to chop scramble a few eggs."

Shaojia nodded in approval before addressing Cindy with the same question. "What about you? You don't intend on attacking them with your bare fists, are you?"

Cindy 'humph'ed before asking shyly, "Um, you don't happen to have a staff or something lying around, do you?"

Shaojia sighed before going over to one of the shelves and pulling out a small steel rod with a small, red switch on the side. He pressed the switch and it grew into a long staff. He tossed it over to Cindy who caught it, twirled it around skillfully, and pressed the same button Shaojia had pressed. She then placed it at her side. "Good, now let's get going. I checked the feed, and it seems as if the Yolkians are going to transport the bomb to downtown in about an hour. I want to intercept them at their ship, take out the guards, and give the bomb to them as a... farewell present."

Jimmy's throat became suddenly dry. "Y-you're planning on blowing up the entire ship!"

Shaojia nodded. "I've run a scan on the ship's armor plating with the base's computer; it's strong enough to withstand a blast that would destroy an entire continent. That'll be a problem for us later, but for now, we need to take out the guards, and transport the bomb to the heart of their ship. But to be on the safe side, Jimmy, do you think that you can do some rewiring on that bomb so that it implodes instead of explodes?"

Jimmy nodded. "Probably. When Sheen was flying that old Yolkian ship the first time around, I got a good glimpse at their technology. It's pretty simple, just like decoding Egyptian hieroglyphics. Unfortunately, the ship had to be dismantled for safety reasons."

Shaojia smirked. "Pity. We could've used it to torch a few acres of the Yolkian capitol, but oh well. Well, now that we don't have anything else we need to do, let's get moving." The three weapon-wielding children stepped onto the glowing, white platform and disappeared in a blinding flash of white light.

Jimmy, Cindy, and Shaojia filed out of the shed in Shaojia's former backyard. Shaojia sniffed the air briefly before turning to the other two. "The Yolkians have already been here. I think they first found out about the mercenary camp's new face-lift about thirty minutes ago. They have patrols about 40 meters away."

Jimmy nodded and took out his laser sword. "Alright, so what are we going to do?"

Shaojia shrugged, "I don't know. Originally, I was going to go up to just kill them, blow up their ship, and come back, but now that you two are here, things are a little bit more complicated. According to Ibsol and the communications I picked up a while ago, you two are devil spawns in their culture."

Cindy scowled. "Devil spawns? What the heck did we ever do to them?" Jimmy nodded in agreement.

Shaojia stared at the two of them with a rather annoyed expression. "Oh you mean other than destroying their god?" Cindy and Jimmy scratched the back of their heads in embarrassment.

Shaojia's ears suddenly twitched, and he tensed. He grabbed Jimmy and Cindy by the arms and threw them over into some nearby bushes. Before they could complain, he pointed to an opening backyard door. Two Yolkian soldiers came into the backyard and scanned the area. One of them took a small, black box from its utility belt and placed it on the ground. It turned to the soldier next to it. "Kundar, the device is set."

The one called Kundar nodded in return. "Excellent. King Goobot will be most pleased with our performance. Once we're out of this system, we'll get to see a grand explosion! It would be just like Poultratsu back home!" The two Yolkians began laughing merrily.

Jimmy and Cindy froze in place as shivers crawled up their spines. Jimmy quickly looked over to Shaojia, but he was nowhere to be seen. Then he looked up and saw him perched precariously on a tree branch, rope dart in hand. Before Jimmy could call out to him, Shaojia threw the dart at the unnamed Yolkian's dome-shaped visor. The dart easily permeated the glass casing and struck a thick, green mass inside of the Yolkian's otherwise lighter green body. Its eyes widened in shock before they rolled into the back of their sockets, and the Yolkian collapsed onto the ground dead.

Kundar was still too scared from witnessing his companion's fate that he never saw Shaojia land behind him until he tapped his shoulder pad with a clawed finger. Kundar slowly turned around and was greeted with a punch to his right eye stocking. Kundar bellowed in pain as the punch became a death grip as Shaojia squeezed his eye stocking tightly. "Now," Shaojia hissed, "you're gonna' tell me what I want, or you'll be just like your friend there." He motioned to the slowly graying Yolkian corpse still trapped in its shell.

Kundar made a loud gulping noise before answering. "I-I'll tell you anything you want!"

Shaojia smirked as Jimmy and Cindy timidly came out of their hiding place. "Jimmy, can you hand me that box over there?" he asked without even turning away from the captured Yolkian. Jimmy nodded and silently handed the mysterious box over to Shaojia. "Thanks," he muttered. Then he narrowed his eyes menacingly on Kundar and kept a fierce grasp on the poor Yolkian's eye stocking. "Now, I want you to tell me what this is."

Kundar closed his eyes in pain. "I-it's a small nuclear device!" he howled. "It can only generate an Earth mile's worth of carnage. Please, have mercy!"

Shaojia loosened the grip on Kundar's eye only a little, but lowered it so that it hovered off to the right of his brain. "I'll decide that later, but first, I've got a few more questions for you. How many guards are outside of the ship, how many are in the ship, how many ships are in this system?"

Kundar winced as Shaojia's hand slightly grazed his brain. "GAH! There are 250 outside, 2,750 inside. I think that we are the only ship left in the system; all of the others left with King Goobot and his quarry after the main force failed to find that Devil here! Now let me go you infernal beast!"

Shaojia made a fake hurt expression crease his face before smiling maliciously at his prisoner before grabbing his brain. "Tsk, tsk, tsk, bad move. I would have let you go, but now you've 'deeply' insulted me. Sorry pal."

Kundar's eyes widened in fear as Shaojia took a firm grasp of his brain. "N-no, please, I'm sorry, I- KYAH!"

Shaojia ripped Kundar's brain out of his body before letting it drop to the ground. He sighed. "I hate doing that," he muttered.

"Then why did you do it?" demanded Cindy. She took a pitying look at both Yolkian soldiers before resuming her angry glaring at Shaojia.

Jimmy put a calming hand on Cindy's shoulder. "Because... because Cindy, if he didn't that Yolkian would've tipped off his superiors before we even get to the ship and we'll be reduced to atoms in a matter of seconds. It was the only reasonable thing to do. Brutal, but reasonable."

Cindy pressed her lips together before nodded. "I... I guess you're right Jimmy," she replied softly. They both locked eyes and began drawing slightly closer to each other. (A/N: Guh, sorry 'bout that. I suck at writing fluff.)

Before they could proceed in making history, Shaojia's annoyed voice awoke them from their pleasant dreams. "Hey, lovebirds! You can do that later, but right now, we've got a ship to destroy!" The two jumped away from each other at impossible speeds, sporting identically impossible shades of red.

They both looked over to Shaojia, who was already at the entrance of his former base, and scrambled over to him. The trio stepped outside into the street where they had lived on and waded through the debris and corpses. Cindy shuddered as Jimmy put a reassuring hand on her shoulder plate. Shaojia smiled at the joyous sight of a promising bonus.

As they entered the deeper recesses of the ruins of the mercenary camp, a thick fog descended upon them. Jimmy looked around warily at the fog which didn't seem to be letting up any time soon. 'Though,' Jimmy thought, 'the chance of a fog such as this spontaneously forming out of nowhere and at such dense levels in a city like Retroville clearly violates all known fields of meteorology.' "Shaojia, can you tell how far we are from the Yolkian ship?" he whined.

Shaojia paused to sniff the air and nodded his head. "The fog's messing up my sense of smell, but I can still tell that they're along this road. We'll be there in a moment."

After about three minutes of marching through dead bodies and destroyed equipment, Jimmy asked Shaojia, "Hey, what are we going to do when we get to the ship, anyways? You said you didn't have an idea."

Shaojia paused momentarily. "And I still don't have an idea," Shaojia replied. "I'm a soldier, not a strategist. If you have an idea, fire away, General."

Jimmy paused as well and looked straight ahead into the fog. Jimmy closed his eyes in thought. "Think, think, think..." A pair of hand cuffs appeared in his mind, then a flashback of Shaojia chopping down the mercenaries the other night, and finally, Shaojia's words, 'According to Ibsol and the communications I picked up a while ago, you two are both devil spawns in their culture...' "Brain Blast!" he shouted.

Shaojia looked over to Cindy, who had stopped as soon as Jimmy screamed his signature line. "Does he... always do that?" he asked her.

Cindy sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately, yes."

Jimmy decided to ignore the comments and explained his plan. "Shaojia, since the Yolkians don't know you, you can pretend to be a free-lance mercenary and have us as prisoners."

Shaojia nodded his head back in thought. "It... it just might work! Now this is the reason why I say you shouldn't be out on the battlefield; you're just too smart!"

Jimmy smiled and basked in the compliment. "Why thank you. I think that this might be a breakthrough for where-"

He was interrupted by Cindy who took a nearby roll of duct tape and taped Jimmy's mouth shut. "Yeah, yeah, yeah, Nerdtron, bask in it later. I think I see the ship up ahead."

**

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**(A/N: Go to w e b j a y . o r g/ b y/ a c r o s s f a d e n/ m y m y s p a c e l i s t and scroll down until you can find a link labeled 'Sesshomaru's theme. Click on it and enjoy.) **

Ceasil squinted his eyes at the figures coming down the road. One had a ridiculously large head, another had what Human's called a 'pony's tail,' and the last had two, triangular-shaped appendages on the top of its ahead. Finally, they resolved out of the fog created by the ship's malfunctioning engine. The first was the Devil, Jimmy Neutron, and the second was his mate, Cindy Vortex. The last appeared to be holding a sword at the two from behind, but was unfamiliar to the eyes of Yolkians. He, as it was apparent that it was male, had canine appendages on the top of his head, and a silky curtain of silver hair flowing down his back. It appeared to be holding the Devil and the Devil's Mistress as prisoners. He approached Ceasil and said in a low, feral voice, "I understand that these..." it spat on the ground in disgust before continuing, "… these humans are your enemies, correct?"

Ceasil nodded as the 244 other guards in the area gathered around the trio. The five engineers continued their work on the bomb. "That is correct. Why do you ask, Stranger? Do you intend to sell them?"

The Stranger nodded. "Yes. How much will you pay me for these weaklings? I expect a high pay if these children are powerful enough to have defeated you."

Ceasil snorted, and made a swift motion for the guards to surround them. "Pay? Oh there is no pay. However, hand over your prisoners, and I shall let you live, Stranger."

The Stranger growled. "So be it." Immediately, Jimmy and Cindy hid behind Shaojia as he pointed his straight sword horizontally at the guards. The sword glowed with an elegant gold aura clashing with mists of crimson. (A/N: Pause for a while to let the evil music to create a good, evil atmosphere.) "TWIN DRAGONS!" he bellowed. The aura around the sword launched into two spots beside Shaojia and took the form of two, ferocious, Chinese dragons. "HYAAH!" He slashed forward at the air and they flew towards the group of guards and exploded in a gold and white light. Horrendous screams of torment came from inside of the light as the sound of dragons roaring barely managed to cover it. When the light finally dissipated, there was nothing left of the soldiers; not a shell nor a corpse/puddle. Just scorched areas of concrete. The engineers were gone as well, but the bomb was remarkably intact. Shaojia sheathed his sword with creepy indifference. About 25 other guards ran outside to fight the intrusion, but were swiftly cut down by Shaojia's rope dart. He pressed his throat communicator and asked, "A-Meiling-mei, how's the bomb?"

* * *

Back in the base, Meiling smiled dreamily in admiration at Shaojia's fighting skills, but was snapped out of her daydream when the voice of the object of her admiration came through the headset. "Huh? Oh, um the bomb is, uh..." She looked at the bomb status display. "It's at 40 percent power. It should be enough to destroy the entire ship, without blowing us all up."

Shaojia decided to ignore Meiling's odd behavior and nodded. "Thanks. Why don't you go to the rec room and play some games, huh?"

"Okay! Bye, Shaojia-ge!" A small burst of static signaled that Meiling had deactivated the headset.

Shaojia deactivated the communicator and turned to Jimmy. "Alright, now that that's settled, can you get to work on that bomb there, General?"

Jimmy, who, along with Cindy, was scared out of his mind at the simple display of power that Shaojia had unleashed, snapped out of his shocked state and nodded. "Right." he ran up to the bomb and started pressing random buttons on the open control panel. "Apply Ramsey's Formula here, 8 carry the 9, divide it by F, multiply M by C squared, E plus 19 over 22 times pi, subtract the dividend by the lowest common denominator of unit l/w, and... Bingo! There we go!" He turned to Shaojia who was utterly confused at the complex equations Jimmy had just entered. "The bomb is set to implode in 45 minutes so we better hurry."

Shaojia snapped out of his stupor and nodded. He ran over to the bomb, and hefted it in his arms. "Alright, Jimmy, Cindy, I need you to take out any guards in our way. I want to get to the armory so we can steal us some Yolkian death machines for ourselves. Let's go!"

They all nodded, and Jimmy and Cindy ran up the landing ramp. They opened the door and held it open for Shaojia who was carrying the bomb with slight difficulty up the ramp. To the duo's right, a door opened to reveal a 5-man Yolkian patrol. Jimmy, who was inspired with Shaojia's battle tactics and had adrenaline practically pouring out of every pore on the human body, lunged at the front-most guard with his laser sword, slicing through what was apparently the power source as its destruction sent several volts of electricity through the Yolkian.

Meanwhile, Cindy, who was in the same state of mind as Jimmy, activated her staff and used it as a javelin to propel herself behind the Yolkian patrol. She grabbed the staff firmly in her hands after she landed and thrust it through the brains of three Yolkians, whom were in a straight line. The remaining Yolkian's self-preservation instincts kicked in but, unfortunately for him, fell out of the open doorway and exploded upon impact on the harsh concrete 20 feet below. By the time Shaojia had finally made his way up the ramp, four more patrols had been dispatched. Cindy turned to Shaojia. "How'd we do?"

Shaojia looked around the bloody corridor. He took a thoughtful kick at a Yolkian suit which crushed under his power. "Eh, not bad. In fact, your attitudes kinda' remind me of Hsu-hao and Heng Chen, two of the best Enforcers in my entire universe!" Jimmy and Cindy smiled proudly at each other. "They're actually married with three kids," Shaojia added for amusement. Now the two children turned a very bright red, and they inched away from each other slowly, avoiding eye contact completely.

Shaojia set the bomb down for a minute and stooped near one of the Yolkian battle suits, and he started to claw around the mechanics. "What are you looking for?" Jimmy asked.

Shaojia continued to tear the suit apart, but he replied, "I'm looking for something that could give us an advantage, a radio, one of those electrostaff thingies, anything that might help us. We're not going to beat an army of 4 million with less than 200 kids. We're gonna' need to play it by the books and to do so, we have to pull every dirty trick in it."

"All's fair in love and war," quoted Jimmy. He chanced a glance at Cindy who looked back before they both turned away blushing slightly.

Shaojia nodded. "I've heard of that saying before. Makes sense, really... Hey, why don't you and Cindy find the directory, and go to the armory yourselves? You've proven to me that you can protect yourselves, and by the time I'm done with this thing, the bomb would be ready to blow." He unbuttoned the cuffs of his sleeves and took out the knives strapped underneath them. He handed them over to Jimmy, who was standing over him at the time. "Take these."

Jimmy stared at the knives in shock. "Y-you actually want us to go to a Yolkian armory, steal all of their weapons, and on top of that, alone?"

Shaojia shrugged. "Pretty much, yeah. You guys wanted to come; well I've done most of the work, now it's your turn to pick the crops. Just don't lose those knives; they're very valuable." He then took two objects the size of grains of rice and attached them to their shoulders. "These are microcams- microscopic cameras designed especially for recon work. You're bound to find some interesting stuff on the way and I want it all on camera for picking apart later."

Jimmy looked over to Cindy who had the same look on her face as he did: shocked, nervous, and scared. "W-well, Cindy," he managed to say, "l-let's go."

Cindy nodded and they both walked out of the corridor. Shaojia snickered as he removed what appeared to be a spark plug. "I am so gonna' get a bonus!"

* * *

Sheen, Carl, and Ibsol were crowded around the arcade console Meiling was playing on while Libby played Dance Dance Revolution across the room. So far, she had beaten Sheen's high score on 'House of the Dead' by 40,000 points, compared to his pathetic 25. Sheen was gritting his teeth in frustration while Carl and Ibsol made poor attempts to stifle their laughter. Finally, a zombie latched onto Meiling's character and tore its head off, 108 bit blood spewing all over the game's floor. Meiling pouted. "Man! And I was at the last level, too!"

Sheen laughed at her. "Aha! The little girl got her head chopped off!"

Carl tapped Sheen's shoulder to get his attention. "Uh, Sheen? Yours got his head chopped off, too," he pointed out.

"And, your character's body was mutilated, burned, chopped up, sliced up, and eaten by rats," Ibsol added.

"And at the first level," Meiling continued.

"Argh!" Sheen screeched. "It's not my fault that I suck at games that don't involve Ultralord!"

Meiling covered her mouth with her hand in a futile attempt to hide her laughter. She then pointed at another arcade console in the vast and seemingly endless floor. "Well you did do pretty well on that one." The console she was pointing to was labeled, 'Happy Happy Fun Time Rabbit Time!'

Sheen continued to fume. "It's a Japanese game! They have a whole bunch of elaborate game names that become screwed up by translation, like Dragging Balls Z or Poo-Poo Hackysack. Or maybe Tetris!"

Carl scratched his head in confusion. "Wait, I thought Tetris was a Russian game?"

Sheen pointed accusingly at Carl. "Hah! So that's your true form, Joseph Stalin! Why don't you go back to your homeland with your... with you bread and your... uh... your... brauchwerst?"

"Isn't brauchwerst German?" Carl asked no one in particular.

"Aha! So you never were dead, after all, Hitler?!" Sheen accused once more. Carl slapped his forehead in dismay.

Meiling slapped Sheen upside the head for his stupidity. "Cut it out, Ultra-dork." She turned towards Carl and Ibsol. "You guys want to play something else?" Before they could answer, the headset Meiling had strapped to her waist beeped. She groaned. "Hold on." She placed the headset on her head and asked, "Yes, what is it?"

On the other side, Shaojia replied. "Meiling, you know how to prep the base for atmospheric transfer, right?"

Meiling nodded. "Uh-huh. You want me to do that?"

"Yeah, that would be good. Jimmy and Cindy are putting some Yolkian arms in Jimmy's hypercube and we should be coming back soon. I want you to prep it for launch."

"Sure thing! Bye Shaojia-ge."

"Bye."

Meiling turned back to the boys (and male Yolkian). "Well, looks like fun time's almost over! Have fun!"

She ran off towards the elevators, leaving the boys to their own devices. "I still say that she isn't that good in video games," Sheen grumbled. Suddenly, a random brick came flying towards him and hit him square in the head. "OW!"

* * *

Jimmy and Cindy walked down the barren corridors of the Yolkian ship. The way to the ship's armory was surprisingly unguarded, minus the two or three patrols that now lay dead or wounded on the ship's deck. Jimmy looked over to Cindy. "Hey, Cindy, where do you think all of the guards are?"

"I don't know," she replied. "Maybe we scared them off?"

Jimmy cocked a quizzical eyebrow at his companion. "You think we scared them off? Cindy, we're just a bunch of kids in a ship filled with enemies, and to top it all off, we're the 'Devil and his Mate!'" As soon as he said that, he blushed as well as Cindy.

After she cooled her face down a tad bit, Cindy attempted to change the topic. "Well, where are they then? Maybe they're planning an ambush?"

"Probably," Jimmy agreed. "I read a book on modern warfare after the first invasion, and I have all reason to believe that an ambush is very likely." As they neared the end of the corridor, it split into two corridors with signs in the Yolkian written language labeling them. Jimmy went up to each sign and used his watch's translator function to figure out what the signs said. "Hm... the one to the left seems to go to the armory, and... the one to the right goes to the armory? What gives?"

Cindy walked up to Jimmy and peered over his shoulder. "Huh? You're right. Maybe they both lead to the armory, like the elevators back in Shaojia's base."

Jimmy nodded. "It's either that or the guy who wrote the signs was illiterate. Either way, we should split up. If one of the corridors is a trap or something, let's agree to come back here, agreed?"

"Agreed."

They both parted and sped down their individual hallways, Jimmy to the left, Cindy to the right. When Jimmy got to the end of his hall, he pressed the green button that was obviously the 'open' button. He slid into the room as stealthily as he could and kept a hand on his laser sword. The room was unguarded, but the rows among rows off staffs, spears, artillery... it was still enough to give Jimmy the creeps. But what nearly gave Jimmy a heart attack wasn't in the room he was in nor was it any weapon in any of the universes Shaojia mentioned. It was but one, little question. 'Where's Cindy?'

* * *

Cindy entered the room at the end of the hallway to find that she had made her way to the armory. 'But where's Jimmy?' she thought. 'I don't see him anywhere.' She shrugged, guessing that his hall lead to a different kind of armory since the one she was in was not a typical weapon store room; there were rows among rows of empty Yolkian battle suits, and not a single staff or gun was in sight.

A sudden noise caught her attention as she activated her staff and swung at whoever was behind her. "AHHH!" She turned around to find a dead Yolkian on the floor in completely black Yolkian suit. Even its gooey body was black. A loud sound similar to a jet engine warming up echoed throughout the room. She looked back around the room to find that several of the suits actually had Yolkians inside them. It was an ambush. Cindy began to run to the door she had come in from, but it was too late; the Yolkians had blocked it off.

The Yolkians lined up in front of, behind, and to the sides of her, 24 in all. She took her staff and spun it over her head and took a low fighting stance. If she could hold out long enough for Jimmy or possibly Shaojia to come and save her, she would be all right. The Yolkians attacked.

* * *

Jimmy looked around the room for Cindy until coming to the conclusion that she was led to either another room or a different armory. He opened his hypercube and started swiping all of the weapons off of the shelves like his dad did at the grocery store on 'Free Pie Day.' A sudden flash of movement caught Jimmy's eye despite the room's dim lighting as Jimmy put an entire row of electrostaffs into his hypercube. He put his hypercube in his pocket, spun around quickly and slashed behind him with his activated sword and was met with a blood-curdling scream. When he was able to calm down enough so that rational thought could kick in, he looked down to the floor, he was able to see the black-clad and now dead Yolkian lying on the ground in its puddle form. The oddest thing about it, though, was that its gooey body was entirely black.

Several, shrill gurgling and clicking sounds echoed throughout the room. Jimmy held his sword in front of him defensively as dark figures penetrated the shadows from every side. Four of the total 24 Yolkians (according to Jimmy's calculations based on width, height, and dimensional interflux) jumped out of the darkness swinging electrostaffs, the only clear way of telling where his opponents were. The others circled around methodically.

Jimmy blocked frantically with his sword, but one of them managed to get past his defenses and sent several bolts of electricity through his arm and left a nasty gash on it as well, despite the armor that was supposed to protect it. Jimmy howled in pain as his tormentor increased pressure on the wound. He used his sword to slash the electrostaffs electric head and swung his sword in a wide arc angrily. The offending Yolkian was now nothing more than two black puddles with eye stocks sticking out of them.

The other three swung there staffs at Jimmy's head, but he crouched and performed another wide arc swing, thus destroying the mechanics of their suits. He looked around for anything that would give him an advantage as six Yolkians decided to charge him at once from one side. He took one of the staffs with his wounded arm and threw it like a spear at what seemed to be an oil barrel behind the advancing Yolkians. Jimmy's assumption was confirmed as the barrel exploded in a bluish green light that engulfed the advancing Yolkians as well as three others who were standing too close. '13 down, Neutron, 11 more to go.'

Taking the initiative, Jimmy spun around and charged at the second weakest group which only consisted of three Yolkians. They retaliated by charging back. Jimmy then turned around and used his watch's anti-gravity function to swing one of the Yolkians on the strongest group into two of the Yolkians on the weakest group. That Yolkian collided with the Yolkian next to it. The resulting carnage was enough of a distraction for Jimmy to slice the electronic panels of his original targets. 19 down, 5 to go.

The remaining Yolkians took one last charge at their foe, but were stopped short when Jimmy used his watch's anti-gravity function again to fling another exploding barrel at them. Jimmy panted heavily as he assessed his wounded arm. It was fine minus the charred flesh, but at least the bleeding was gone. Cindy's shrill scream drew his attention to the door to the right of the door he used to enter. 'Cindy!'

* * *

Cindy cried in pain as an electrostaff caught her in her armored arm. The electrostaff melted through her armor like butter and still made contact with the skin. She had managed to dispatch 20 of the 24 Yolkians, but as it was painfully obvious to see, the Yolkians Cindy was fighting now were nothing like the Yolkians she had fought about a year ago. These ones worked in teams and were faster. She had been distracted several times as well by explosions coming from the other side of the door left of the one she had used to enter. She also had none of the Purple Flurp she usually used for an energy boost. She swung her staff weakly at her attacker and despite her fatigue, she still managed to damage its suit's control panel enough to disable it.

A sizzling sound caught the attention of everyone in the room. The door that wasn't locked had a small, glowing rectangle forming on it, just about the size of a normal human child with an irregularly oversized head. The sliced metal was kicked off easily as a figure wielding a blue sword-type weapon charged in with an angry war cry.

Jimmy sliced the nearest Yolkian in half in his fit of rage. The remaining two charged him with their electrostaffs and one managed to hit Jimmy square in the chest. Jimmy flew back into a wall while his sword went forward with the momentum of his original charge, and it pierced the energy core of one of the Yolkian's battle suit. It exploded and created a domino effect that destroyed the one beside it.

Cindy rushed over to Jimmy despite the pain in her back and kneeled by his side. "Jimmy? Jimmy? Wake up, Jimmy, please, wake up!"

Jimmy focused his eyes at Cindy's concerned face. "Ugh, Cindy? Are you alright?"

Cindy stared at Jimmy with an amazed expression. "You just got flung into a wall and you're asking me if I'm alright? That's kind of... sweet." They both blushed slightly. "But how are you? Are you okay?"

Jimmy nodded and pushed himself off of the floor. "I'm fine. I think that Shaojia's warrior spirit is rubbing off on us a bit too much," he joked. He looked around the other armory and pointed at a rack of Yolkian battle armor, the normal ones along with a few that looked like the ones he and Cindy had just fought. "Should we get some of these into the hypercube?"

Cindy followed his gaze and shook her head. "I don't know. Most of the Yolkians I had to fight came out of those shells and I don't know if they're still hiding in there."

Jimmy nodded his head in agreement. "You're right, but I still think we should take some of that black armor. Let's just get some of the fairly undamaged ones we just fought and put them into the hypercube, and maybe we can get an undamaged one that we're sure is empty."

Cindy nodded and they both started to check for fairly undamaged suits. After about two or three suits went into the hypercube, they began on the completely undamaged suits. Cindy found a release button one side of a black suit and pressed it. The visor glowed a silvery light at the top of the dome before it split open and slid down into the suit's main structure. She took the suit out and tipped it over with a loud clang. Jimmy looked up from the hypercube with a startled expression. "Eh, heh... oops," Cindy muttered.

Jimmy sighed and took out his laser sword. He activated the blade and used it as a flashlight to peer into the shell. Once he had confirmed that there was nothing in it, he ordered, "Alright, let's put it in there." Both he and Cindy grasped both sides of the heavy suit and dropped it into the hypercube's opening where it was sucked into an infinite dimensional plane where nothing from the inside can get out. "Alright, now let's go back to the other armory and get the rest of the weapons."

* * *

Shaojia wiped the sheet of sweat off of his forehead with his robe's sleeve. He sheathed his sword and kicked the last of the black-armored Yolkians down the loading ramp. 24 of the strange Yolkians had tried to sneak up on him, but he was used to surprise attacks and was able to defeat all of the, without injury. He was still worried though; his superhuman sense of smell should have caught the scent of oil or whatever powered their suits, and had it not been for their battle cries, he would have been toast. Shaojia cursed under his breath. 'Well, no time to berate myself now. I still have work to do.'

He turned back to the Yolkian battle suit he had been working on since Jimmy and Cindy have left. So far he had found a radio, an energy core, an electrostaff, a crescent-shaped weapon with odd glowing tips, and a propulsion drive (at least, that's what he thought it was). The sound of foot steps caught his attention... as well as the smell of charred human flesh. Shaojia hopped to his feet and was about to run out into the hallway, but Jimmy and Cindy beat him to it.

The duo walked into the main hall, hand in hand, chatting away as if they were friends for the longest time... that is until they saw Shaojia staring at them with an amused expression. "So that's what you two have been up to! And here I though I had given you the hard job!" he joked.

Jimmy and Cindy darted to the opposite sides of the hall, stammering excuses that even Sheen could have seen through without even trying. Finally, Jimmy had calmed down enough to speak coherently. "Um, well... how did you do?"

Shaojia stepped out of the passageway's view to show his bounty. "Well, I didn't get much done, but I have what I need. I could have gotten more if those weird Yolkians didn't interrupt." He then remembered his reason for worry. "And I'm guessing they got to you, too?"

They nodded. "Yeah, but we're not too seriously injured," said Cindy.

"Yeah, it's nothing bad," agreed Jimmy.

Shaojia sighed. "Well, I knew a guy who got his arm amputated and called it a scratch." He glared evilly at the now-pale couple. "He died of infection and blood loss the next day. When we get back to base, we're getting you two checked out. The base itself doesn't have an infirmary since it's only a training module, but the ship we'll be cruising on does. We'll be leaving immediately." He scooped up his find and put it into Jimmy's hypercube.

As they left the ship and ran back through the ruins of the mercenary camp, the timer on the bomb read, '00:05.'

* * *

Meiling sighed for what seemed to be the hundredth time since Shaojia signed off. The guys were still in the game room. Libby sat in the chair next to her drinking a Pepsi, and was quite tired of her companion's sighing. "Girl, what is up with you? You've been sighing ever since Mr. Overkill hung up."

Meiling glanced boredly at Libby before slumping in her seat. "Oh, I'm just worried that's something's happened. It shouldn't take them that long!"

Libby put her drink down on the table and kicked her combat boots onto the table. "Well, they are going against a Yolkian warship."

"I know, but still... Shaojia's usually done with missions like this hours ago!"

Libby looked at the bamboo wall clock next to the Buddha. "They left 45 minutes ago."

"That's still too long!"

"Girl, what is your deal? You act like you're his wife or something!"

Meiling blushed a crimson red before turning her rolling chair so that she was facing away from Libby. She stammered, "Uh... uh, no! No, no, no, nothing like that at all! It's nothing like that!"

Libby laughed lightly. 'Now where have I heard THAT before?' Libby thought as conversations with Cindy over Jimmy came to mind. "Girl, face it; you like him!"

Meiling's face was now as red as Sheen was stupid. "I-I-I do not!"

"Of course you do! Girl, look at the signs; you miss him when he's away, you probably follow him every time he's gone on a mission-"

"I do not!"

"- you deny everything nervously when someone asks you if you like him, too, just like Cindy does about Jimmy! Heck, and don't even think I didn't see you oggling him when he was talking to everyone this morning!"

Meiling sighed. "Alright fine, I do like him... but what if he doesn't like me?"

"Why wouldn't he like you?" Libby asked, her Pepsi long forgotten.

"Well for starters, he's the heir to an imperial throne, and I'm... I'm just an orphan girl."

"So? He was an orphan, too, and I bet ya' every CD in my collection that he didn't have no friends 'till you showed up."

"I guess not, but I still don't know. I mean he's actually saved my life since the first time we met, and I-I didn't know how to repay him! I feel like I've just been leeching off of him and I haven't done anything! What if he thinks I'm just a useless girl?"

"You repayed him with your friendship! I mean look at Jimmy; without Carl and Sheen, weird and crazy as they may be, he would've been stuck up in his lab and he wouldn't be accomplishing anything other than shooting out inventions out of his planet-sized head. And I bet that if Shaojia had never met you, he'd a-gone and killed and killed until he was killed himself."

"I guess you're right, but I still don't know why he would be interested in me. He is a Lord, an Emperor actually, and I was born a peasant-"

"And if you keep talking like that, you gonna' stay a peasant." Libby interrupted. "You've got to seize the opportunity when it comes. None of my favorite singers ever got famous just by lying low and seeing how the river curves; they curve the river themselves and make millions off of inappropriate and/or catchy lyrics." (A/N: Looking at you, 50 Cent)

Meiling turned back around and smiled thankfully at Libby. "Thanks, Libby. I am glad to know that there's someone else I can rely on here."

"No problem, Meiling. I've been thinkin' of training to be a psychiatrist or a counselor or something like that. Get to know people and help them out with their problems."

"Yeah, you'd be good at that and-"

She was cut off by the opening of the meeting room door. Sheen, Carl, and Ibsol stumbled into the meeting room giddy and excited. "You guys!" Sheen exclaimed. "Jimmy, Cindy, and Shaojia are back! We get to go into space now! Now I will finally get to see Ultralord!"

"And we get to see llamas!" cheered Carl as he embraced Ibsol in a friendly bear hug. "Hooray llamas!"

A sudden, angry, and loud voice caused everyone to freeze. "And I get to shoot two idiots out of the airlock when we get into space! Yay!"

"Hooray airlocks!" yelled Sheen as Shaojia made his way into the room along with Cindy and Jimmy.

Shaojia sighed and sat down in his respective chair as did Cindy and Jimmy. "Well, the mission went off with only a slight hitch. Jimmy, Cindy, mind giving those cameras back?" They nodded and grabbed the barely noticeable specs off of their shirts and give it to Shaojia's waiting hand. He walked over to the TV monitor, put the two microcams into a small receptacle, and pressed the red button next to it. The footage captured by the cameras was displayed in split-screen, Jimmy's on the right and Cindy's on the left. Shaojia took a laser pointer from a nearby rack and pointed the laser at the black armored Yolkians. "These Yolkians ambushed us in the ship. Jimmy and Cindy have actually been injured by them, but they will be receiving medical attention immediately." He glared at the two fidgeting individuals with an expression that clearly stated 'And there's nothing you can do about it.'

Ibsol gulped loudly. "D-does aren't normal Yolkian infantry units."

"Well obviously!" Cindy retorted.

"No, you don't understand!" Ibsol said in a harsh whisper He hovered over to the front of the room. "These Yolkians are a new breed. They have been bred out of the molten rock that inhabits the core of the Yolkian home world. They are actually based on a Yolkian legend where nearly invincible warriors, called Yolktars, overthrew the current Yolkian king and plunged the planet into eternal darkness until they were cast into the planet's core by several united leaders. From the legends, you are all lucky to be alive."

Jimmy raised a questioning eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"Thankfully, these are but young Yolktars, fresh from the Spawning Chambers. But the fully-developed adults, ugh, it is rumored that they can take a humanoid shape outside of their shells, and their bodies' goo can melt through metal. Their weapons are stronger than any normal Yolkians' as well. Their electrostaffs can melt through any armor as if it were nothing but air! Only the strongest materials can survive a blow from a Yolktarian electrostaff."

Shaojia unsheathed his straight sword. "Like my Father's sword. I blocked the tip of an electrostaff but the sword didn't melt."

Ibsol hovered over to Shaojia and examined the sword carefully. "What is it made of?"

Shaojia shrugged. "Oh, just my Father's front tooth and a little bit of his blood. It got knocked out in a fight with a band of rebellious tiger demons from Hunan Province."

Ibsol scratched his dome in confusion but decided to let the issue slide. "Well in any case, it is obvious that your universe's armor is much more powerful than this universe's. However, I do agree with you; it would be best to treat Colonel Vortex and General Neutron immediately. Electrostaffs have been known to cause internal damage even with a slight blow and since the Yolktars were the ones to strike you, I am very worried about your health."

Shaojia confronted Ibsol with a serious posture and expression. His back was straight and his face showed only discontent "Why, are the staffs laced with poison?" he asked.

Ibsol shook his head disdainfully. "I'm sorry, but I don't know for sure. It has been rumored that they are, but I am still uncertain."

Shaojia nodded his head. "Well, we're not going to take any chances." He then turned to the computer screen and placed his hand on the right part of the screen. "Computer, initiate launch sequence." It glowed like a photocopier and chirped, 'Access Granted,' before the entire room started to glow a white light.

When the light finally dissipated, a faint rumbling sound was heard, almost like... 'A space engine,' Jimmy thought. He looked around the room to see that it was entirely the same minus the fact that the wood chair was made of white granite and the rest of the room (minus the Buddha and its accessories) was made of a white metal. There were also four windows on each side of the door that was now across the room from the Buddha. Jimmy walked over to one of the windows and was astonished by the view. All he could manage to say was, "Wow..." They were in space, trapped momentarily in Earth's gravitational pull just like the moon.

Shaojia noticed a scroll lying on the table. It read in traditional Chinese characters:

_8 March 2002_

_Qin ai Shaojia-ge,_

_I am happy to be able to say that the dimwits down in our division of Lab 74 have picked up the pace in ship manufacturing and technology. You have those automated turbolasers you've been asking for the last four months, and the automated infirmary has been updated as well. I am also happy to say that the defense systems are now more advanced than Universe T-45's, and I intend to make sure those fools in Lab 74 keep up with the rest of the departments... well our division at least. I know that neither of us gives a damn about how those assholes in G-2 are doing..._

_I also talked with both Admiral Gao and General Tian yesterday. Admiral Gao says that the navy is now at maximum strength and is willing to fight in N-12 if necessary. General Tian also reports that the infantry, calvalry, and artillery are all at full strength. They both say that your replies should come as soon as possible._

_Well, remember to contact me if there is anything wrong with the equipment. I'll be sure to, as you always say, 'shove so many tools so far down there throats that there defecation will consist only of blood and metal until the next dynasty,' if they should fail to do something right again. I agree with you that those idiots should be decommissioned... or killed, which ever is cheaper. Well here is where I must part, for I have a date with the lovely Chen Ju. Wish me luck!_

_Li Paosung of Fuzhou Province, Chief Administrator of the Department of enforcer Shelter and Welfare_

Shaojia nodded his head in acknowledgement of what was written on the scroll. 'This came in yesterday. Guy sure knows how to work.' He then reread the last part of the letter frantically. 'Wait... Chen Ju? The _same_ Chen Ju who sent the last two guys who hit on her inappropriately to the infirmary? Damn, Pao-sung's one hell of a dare devil. Hope now he's not a dead dare devil now.'

Shaojia slowly rolled up the scroll as to not damage the delicate calligraphy. Meiling looked over to him as the other children became fascinated with outer space. (What does that say, Shaojia?) she asked curiously.

Shaojia smiled. (Lab 74 finally came through on their assignments. Let's hope they didn't screw up again.)

Meiling giggled. (Still mad about that Projector Malfunction, huh?)

Shaojia growled deeply in his throat. (Damn right I am,) he muttered. He then turned over to Jimmy and the other Cabinet members. "Alright, you all can sight-see later!" He pressed what appeared to be an 'eject' button on a small receptacle under the TV monitor. He took out a small data disk out of it and handed it to Meiling. "Meiling, I want you and everyone else except for Jimmy and Cindy to go to the assembly deck on level 3. Put this in the podium and just press 'play.' You can do that, right?"

Meiling accepted the disk and nodded. "I can do it, but what's in here, anyway?"

"It's the introduction to Enforcer space craft. Just make sure no one falls asleep and everything will be fine."

"Hey," Cindy whined, "why aren't Jimmy and I going?"

Shaojia rolled his eyes as Meiling and the Cabinet members allowed to leave exited through the meeting room's door. "You can go, but I prefer having high-ranking officers alive rather than dead! Now quit complaining and come on." The two instantly became silent; Shaojia's intimidating image of a black robe, fangs, and claws was not very friendly. They obediently followed him out of the door.

Like the meeting room, the entire hallway was a sterile white minus the matter generator disguised as an intimidating golden dragon statue. The corridors were the same except that Jimmy and Cindy's room took up the entire middle hall. "Where's the elevator?" Jimmy asked.

Shaojia stepped onto an oval in the middle of the floor that was glowing a faint, bluish white light. There was a control panel of sorts jutting out of a pole next to it. He pointed downwards at it. "It's over here, get on." They obeyed and got onto the strange elevator. Shaojia pressed one of the 14 level controls.

Cindy peered over Shaojia's shoulder. "Hey, what are the extra four floors?"

"The infirmary, the Bridge, Docking Bay 2, and the engine room," Shaojia answered as the elevator pad... thing glowed a bright white and made its descent. Then he remembered, "Oh, Jimmy, you're lab's probably in the engine room by the way."

Jimmy nodded in acknowledgement. "Alright, but why do we have two docking bays? Wouldn't one be enough?"

Shaojia laughed as the elevator reached its destination, the floor right below it. "That's the same question I asked when these E-SS 347 warships came out! I guess it's because since space is 'infinite,' we needed more ships to attack our enemies. What a load of bull-"

He was interrupted by a strange machine that was coming their way on tank-like treads. It was entirely white minus the two red crosses on its arm connections. Its hands had three prongs as appendages and they were a light blue, almost similar to that of surgeons' gloves. It had a rectangular head, similar in size to a small TV screen. It's 'face' was a pulse measurement reader. "Greetings, Master," it chirped happily, its monitor-like face's pulse line rising and falling with each word. (A/N: More or less, it's like an amp monitor.) My sensors detect new sentients, humans no less. How may I serve you?"

Shaojia directed at Jimmy and Cindy with his hand. "MD-01, I want you to take these two to the med stations and treat their wounds. And check for anything strange, poison, anything. You and your team are to treat these two with every byte of respect you Tin Meds can sum up. Understood?"

The robot, MD-01, chirped in acknowledgement. "Understood, General." MD-01 (A/N: Who we will now call MD for short) turned towards Cindy and Jimmy. "Please follow me, my new Masters."

Jimmy looked back over to Shaojia to see... nothing. He scratched his head. "Huh? Where'd he go?"

MD let out an electronic version of a sigh. "Oh, he does that from time to time. 'Keeps people on their toes' he claims. Alas, all he ever really does, as far to my knowledge, is do data scans on this space vessel's statistics and structural status... or more accurately he has us machines do all of the work. That flea-bitten canine can't even perform the simplest forms of scientific notation, that hind-biting hound, that-" He was cut off by what seemed to be a medical dictionary hitting his head.

Shaojia glared at medical robot as he stepped out of a room called 'Lavatory.' "I heard that, you crappy piece of tin. You outta' be grateful I've put up with you and the rest of your crew this long and haven't just suspended you all for latrine duty!"

MD righted himself from his previously prone quickly and saluted with his robotic hand. "AH! My apologies, sir! It won't happen again sir!" He scurried out of the room as fast as his tires could take him.

Jimmy looked over curiously at Shaojia. "What's that all about?"

Shaojia smirked maliciously, sending a shiver down Jimmy's spine. "You don't want to know," he replied. "Well, since oh-1 forgot his orders, you'll have to follow me. We'll get you two treated quickly." Shaojia led the two kids down the sterile, white halls and to a room labeled, ' Medical Examination Center: 1A.' He keyed the control panel on the right of the door and it slid open with a _HISS._ Shaojia stepped aside to let Jimmy and Cindy through.

Jimmy looked around the room in awe, as did Cindy. It looked like a cross between Jimmy's lab and a hospital room. Wide-screen monitors adorned the walls while the entire room sparkled a pearly white. Rows and rows of inviting cots were in front of them, a few of the robot personnel wheeling about for whatever reason. "Wow... this medical facility is amazing! Not even my own technology is up to speed with it!"

Shaojia snorted. "Of course not! There are several universes with several geniuses working in the Enforcer Health Department. I'm just glad that they're not being paid to sit and play with dangerous chemicals all day."

Cindy raised an inquisitive eyebrow as they entered the room. "Why do you guys get paid anyways? Shouldn't your job be more of a volunteer type?"

Shaojia grunted as he looked around for MD. "Well I'm the one who's risking my life to save a bunch of idiots who can't keep things in their universe safe enough for me to take a year's vacation, and the crops don't plant themselves, so I have to have some source of income. They actually make us pay rent at the Enforcer base/planet."

Cindy changed the subject a little while Jimmy took the time to examine some of the equipment. "Well, how much do you get paid?"

Shaojia rolled his eyes upwards in thought. "Oh I'd say $50,000 in any currency you choose, give or take on the success of your mission."

Cindy's jawed dropped. "$50,000?! Where can I sign up?"

Shaojia glared at Cindy with a hardened expression. "There are two people that have jurisdiction over this universe and they are myself and Jimmy. If you or any of your other friends would like to be an official Enforcer, you would have to make a request to both of us and we must approve, and I hereby declare that your request has been denied. No offense, Cindy, but some people should stay out of the battlefield. They have too much potential to just throw away their lives every time there's a crisis in some strange universe that's waiting to blow their heads off with weapons they have probably never even seen before."

Cindy put her hands on her hips defiantly and glared right back at him. "And that's why you've done that to Meiling, too?"

"Of course! She would make an excellent scholar, a teacher, a doctor, anything that WON'T get her killed! Look, if you still want to die an early and usually gruesome death, ask permission from Jimmy." He then had a sly glint in his eyes as a sudden thought came to him. "Besides, he might actually grant your offer, seeing as you're his girlfriend and all."

Elsewhere, Jimmy sneezed, drawing the attention of several of the robots. 'Someone must be saying things about me,' he thought.

Back with Cindy and Shaojia, Cindy blanched and made an entire list of stuttered excuses. "He-he's not m-my boyfriend!"

Shaojia smirked as he looked around the room some more for MD. "Now that's the biggest load I've heard in my life and dog demon's start to have comprehensive thought whey they're six months old! Even this war hound can see that you two have a thing! Just... make amends with him before it's too late. That's how most people in the Enforcer Ranks get killed; it's not the weapons or the wounds or the diseases from infection, it's the heartbreak people get when someone close to them gets turned into a radioactive crater." He quickened his pace and left Cindy to her thoughts. "Hey, oh-1! Where are ya' you worthless piece of tin?!" He smirked as he disappeared from Cindy's vision. 'Money, money, money, mo-nay... MO-NEY!' he sang happily in his head.

Cindy sat down on a nearby cot, much to the annoyance of the automated medical staff. 'Maybe he's right... maybe I should tell Jimmy that I'm in love-'

* * *

"-with this new technology!" Jimmy screeched from the other side of the room. Jimmy had found MD hiding in a very large utility closet, shaking so hard that his nuts and bolts were actually coming loose. Jimmy had offered to give MD a tune-up and he gladly accepted. Jimmy slapped MD's chest plate shut as he absorbed the technology he had just witnessed and tinkered with in his mind. "There we go, pal, all done!"

MD's monitor's image transformed into a poorly pixilated face, looking more like something from an old videogame console. His new face brightened in gratitude. "Oh thank you, Master Neutron! I haven't had a tune-up since Master Wang's last mission! I know he means well but... demons and complicated technology just don't go too well, like H2O and electron particles."

Jimmy chuckled slightly. "No problem! I'm just glad that I got to see some of the famous, 'Enforcer Technology.' Most of it is very impressive!"

MD nodded his head in agreement. "Why yes, it is! I, along with the rest in my Automated Workers Class, was created by Master Rendol of Universe R-10. He actually invented most of the technology for CelestiCorp. To my kind, he is our God."

Jimmy nodded. "Well, I believe you have orders from Shaojia."

MD looked around nervously, his 'face' expressing great worry. "Oh right, yes... he's not here... is he?"

Jimmy scratched his head in confusion. "No, why?"

MD let out an exasperated sigh that sounded more like a blender shutting down. "I know that Master Wang means well, but he has less patient with machinery than he is with sentient life forms."

Jimmy nodded and looked around nervously as well before replying, "Yeah, he doesn't look like the type who would get along with technology well."

A sneeze was heard in the distance, accompanied by a mumbled 'Dammit, someone's talking about me again.' The two froze until Shaojia entered the small room they were in. "Hey so that's where you were," Shaojia muttered. He sniffled a bit, irritation clearly evident in his voice. "Oh, oh-1, did you get Jimmy cleared yet?"

MD nodded. "Yes, Master. There was no sign infection nor was their any poison. He is of optimum health, one of the healthiest sentients I have ever encountered... or so my data processors tell me."

Shaojia nodded dumbly. "Yeeaah... sure. Cindy's on a cot somewhere back in the main room, you can check on her now."

MD nodded. "As you wish, sir." He wheeled out of the room per his orders.

Shaojia then turned to Jimmy. "Jimmy, I'm going to the assembly hall to check with Meiling. Anything to get away from the stench of medical fluids. Say, why don't you and Cindy go to the training rooms and wait for us while when she's done? Just press the '10' on the elevator controls for the gym or '11' for the firing range."

"Sure," Jimmy replied and went to the main room.

Shaojia sneezed. "I bet my ass that it's Wulong again," he muttered bitterly.

* * *

Meiling snored lightly in a convenient chair as the introductory film continued to roll. Though Meiling had told them that they were supposed to have watched the video as well, Sheen, Carl, and Ibsol had engaged in a game of Texas Hold 'em while Libby followed her orders and watched the film, unlike her male counterparts. The rest of the army, despite their lack of training, had followed her orders after she said that Shaojia was the one who had assigned the movie to them. Apparently, demons were reverently feared in this universe.

The sound of footsteps coming down the metallic, white halls of the ship aroused Meiling from her light slumber. She stretched her arms a bit and yawned as the footsteps grew nearer. The footsteps stopped and she looked to her side to see Shaojia looking at the faces of each and every single person in the ship's assembly hall. He nodded grimly in agreement to whatever he was thinking of. He turned towards Meiling. "Have a nice nap?" he asked lightly, his voice containing a small bit of sarcasm.

Meiling blushed in embarrassment at being caught sleeping while she was 'on duty' as she frequently called her tasks while in a military base or ship, much to Shaojia's annoyance. She nodded sheepishly. "Yes," she muttered.

Shaojia smiled kindly at her as he walked over to the boys' card game with an amused yet malevolent grin. They had just finished a round with Ibsol as the victor with a straight flush while Carl had a four-of-a-kind with four nines and a ten. Unfortunately for Sheen, he had lost with a High hand (a type of hand in poker where the player has no cards of the same numerical rank and his had is determined by the highest rank of the card in his hand). His highest card was an eight. He plopped down to the ground next to him and drew himself a hand. He looked at the three frightened people with a bemused gaze as he laid down his cards. He had Royal Flush. "Well boys, looks like I won," he cheerfully said. "Game's over, get back to work," he added with a snarl.

The three saluted nervously and sat in the chairs behind them, whistling innocently, their cards still on the floor. Shaojia nodded in satisfaction as the film ended. "This was your introduction to Enforcer space vessels. Thank you for joining our glorious ranks, I hereby say good bye for our friends in Labs 74 and 19. This is Lieutenant General Travis D. McCollahn, and God Bless."

Shaojia grumbled lowly as he approached the podium. "Cocky-ass bastard makes everything he says look so dramatic." He cleared his throat to get the attention of the 'army.' "Ahem, attention!"

All of the 'soldiers' saluted as they were taught by war movies and video games. "SIR!"

Shaojia saluted back and put his arm back to his side. "At ease, ladies and gentlemen." They all dropped their arms as well. "Now, as you can see, we are now in space and I am sure all of you have many questions so..."

* * *

Jimmy looked over to Cindy as they rode up to where Shaojia said the gym was. She had been acting strange ever since she had been treated and he was starting to get worried. 'I wonder what's wrong with her,' he thought. She had been shooting him shy looks for the last two minutes and kept looking away and blushing. She had also attempted several times to say... something, but she would always back out and mutter a 'Never mind' and it was starting to get on his nerves. "Alright, what's the problem, Cindy?"

Cindy cringed slightly and turned to Jimmy as her mind processed his words." Uh nothing's wrong, Jimmy, nothing at all, heh heh heh..." Her eyes darted around nervously as their elevator stopped. "Oh look, we're here!" She ran hurriedly out towards the gym floor. The gym itself was at least twenty times larger than the old gym, but it went unnoticed by Cindy as she began to tear a whole through the bag's tough exterior.

Jimmy looked at her in disbelief before running up to catch up to her. "Cindy, wait!" Cindy ignored him and looked frantically for something to occupy her time. Finally, she stumbled upon a punching bag and started hitting it repeatedly. Jimmy had had enough and grabbed Cindy by the shoulders and turned her that she faced him. "Tell me!"

Cindy looked away from Jimmy's face and bit her lip in contemplation. Should she tell him? Shaojia's words continued to float in her head. _"_... _it's the heartbreak people get when someone close to them gets turned into a radioactive crater."_ She turned her head back to face Jimmy's. She saw the clear concern and worry in his eyes and her resolve strengthened. She gulped down the lump that had formed in her throat and croaked, "Jimmy... did you ever winder what would happen if one of us were to die in the war?"

Jimmy looked at Cindy in shock. "Well I would miss them terribly of course. Carl and Sheen are like brothers to me, weird, creepy brothers with odd... um hobbies. And Libby's like a sister to me."

"And me?"

Jimmy frowned. "I'd miss you a whole lot, too, Cindy."

Cindy bit her lip before continuing, "... but what am I to you?"

Jimmy bit this lip as well. "You're... you're special to me Cindy. Ever since that Love Potion Incident a few months ago... I've been having these strange feelings about them. I've read and I've read, I've read all I could about it but it all lead up to something everyone in all of Retroville probably thought was impossible. I... I think I'm in love with you Cindy."

* * *

"... and now that that's settled, we'll now be introducing new divisions," Shaojia droned as he spoke into the podium. "The divisions are the Navy, the Infantry, the Communications Specialists, and the Reconnaissance Team. If you would like to be a Communications Specialist, please go with Carl and Ibsol to the Comm Center you went to at the old base. It is in the same place, only bigger. Also, if you are under 12, please leave immediately." The same people who had left the day before left, so there were now 210 soldiers and 4 people on the balcony. "If you want to be in the Navy, move to the wall on my right. Those already there please move out of the way so that those who wish to join may move. In the Navy, you should not see much combat but will only work the controls of this ship and its functions so people who are interested in engineering, computers, or anything else that has to do with technology should consider joining." About 22 people moved. "Alright, will you all please move to the far-right corner? Thank you. Now if you are interested in the Recon Team or Scouts as they are more commonly known, you will be doing the tracking, mapping, and data collecting of all territories that this army goes in. It is a dangerous job, so be prepared to face Death and spit in His face repeatedly. If you are still interested, please go to the near-right corner." Surprisingly to Shaojia, 30 people joined so now there were 158 soldiers. "Alright, so that must mean that everyone else is still interested in being in the basic infantry, right?"

"SIR, YES SIR!" the remaining kids shouted.

Shaojia nodded. "Report to the elevators then. These new ones can hold up to 30 people so feel free to crowd around it. Unfortunately, there are no stairs on this ship so those left behind should wait patiently for the elevator to come back down. I want you to do the same drill procedures as yesterday." He saluted sharply and they saluted in return. "Move out!" As the soldiers marched out of the waiting room, Shaojia turned towards the other Cabinet members. "Alright, Libby, do you want to stay with the Infantry of do you want to change divisions?"

She shrugged. "I guess I'll change; I'm not totally down with all this soldierin' an' stuff, but my Daddy was in the Navy 'fore he got abducted. Maybe I gots some a' that Navy blood in me, too."

Shaojia nodded. "Sounds like a good idea. I hereby elevate you to Vice Admiral Libby Folfax." He turned around towards the podium. "All who have joined the Navy, please wait for the elevators to come back and go with Vice Admiral Libby Folfax to floor 14. You will simply study Naval etiquette and orders for today. The handbooks are on the control stations. Your new sect's uniforms will be delivered to your dorms after dinner. Welcome to the Navy." He followed his speech with a crisp salute which was returned by the new Naval personnel. Shaojia turned back to the remaining leaders as Libby and the 22 Naval officers left for the command bridge. "Sheen, do you want to transfer?"

Sheen snorted. "Heck no! I've wanted to be a soldier all my life, just like Ultralord Jr. in 'Episode 647: Army Tunes of the Iwakataniki People.'"

Shaojia inwardly sighed at Sheen's incompetence and turned back around to face the Scouts. "Scouts, you will be doing the same training exercises as the Infantry for today. As you can see, we are short many men in our army, but I will personally train you when things are calmer. Today, you will line up in new lines apart from the infantry. Please make your way to the gym." As the new Scouts headed for the elevators, Shaojia turned to Meiling. "Meiling, nice job. Can you please remove the video recording for this room from the podium? I'd like to show this to Jimmy and Cindy later."

Meiling nodded. "Where are they anyway," she asked.

Shaojia grinned smugly. "Oh, they're just having quality time at the gym." Sheen's eyes nearly popped out of his eyes, but he kept his composure. 'I think that I should change my bet,' he thought. Shaojia ignored Sheen's odd behavior and ordered, "Well, let's go. We've wasted enough time with the Yolkians and it's 11-hundred right now."

* * *

Cindy's breath hitched as Jimmy's words finally hit her. 'He loves me...' she thought. Her eyes suddenly brightened. 'He loves me!' Jimmy continued to ramble. "I know that you probably don't feel the same way about me, but I must reiterate that-"

Cindy cut him off with a kiss on his lips and pulled back slightly. "I thought you were a genius," she cooed mockingly. "Of course I love you Jimmy, and I- I guess I always have, ever since the Yolkians first invaded. I guess that back then we always denied it because we were so young and jealous... but now I think we're old enough to know what these feelings are."

Jimmy smiled and moved his arms to where one was on the back of her neck and the other was at the small of her back. "I never realized how important you were to me either, Cindy. You're right; we were young, stupid, arrogant... we just didn't know what love was. But now we know and after this is all over... we can finally get our relationship the way it was meant to have been a good while ago."

Cindy nodded. Then, the moment was crashed by a loud, "Ahem!" The two looked towards the elevators, too shocked to even bother jumping away from each other. There was the entire army, minus a few, with Sheen, Shaojia, and Meiling at the forefront. Shaojia smirked as images of the Chinese Imperial yuan came to mind, falling from the Heavens. He then realized the impact of such a relationship in the eyes of the soldiers and resolved to thoroughly cripple any thoughts of any of the leaders being 'soft.' He turned around abruptly and yelled at the soldiers, "What are you greenhorns lookin' at?! This isn't a daytime TV show! This is an army! Everyone hit the track; I want three laps double-time! Go, go, go!" He then motioned for Sheen and Meiling to follow him. Shaojia saluted Jimmy and glared at Sheen to do the same. "General, the army is ready. I have footage of today's briefing that you and Colonel Vortex may watch in the meeting room. Just put it into the CD slot like normal."

Jimmy shyly took the CD from Shaojia and both he and Cindy ran out of the room. Sheen turned to Shaojia. "Well, I guess we gotta' get started without them, huh?"

Shaojia nodded and sighed. "158 soldiers and 30 scouts with only the three of us to train them. This is gonna' be a long day."

* * *

That night, Jimmy, Cindy, and the rest of the Cabinet marched in exhaustedly into the meeting room, and slumped into their chairs. Jimmy and Cindy had joined Shaojia and his group in the gymnasium about a half hour after they had left. Libby's eyes were sore from reading the entire Naval manual. Out of everyone, Carl and Ibsol were the least tired considering that all they had to do was study the manuals for the communication center control stations. Jimmy groaned as he rubbed his temples. "Alright, who wants to go first on the status report?"

Shaojia stood up. "Well, since we now have about 150/160 soldiers, we're gonna' need more help. We're going up against an army of who knows how much-"

"Around 5,000,000 soldiers in the Loyalist army to be exact with 3,500,000 soldiers in the Rebel Army," Ibsol corrected. "By now, they have probably lessoned each other's numbers."

On any other day, Shaojia would have been irritated by the interruption, but at this new information, he was as quiet as a dead church mouse. "4.8 million..." He slumped in his chair dejectedly. "This would have been a suicide mission..." he muttered.

Jimmy turned towards Shaojia. "What, you're giving up already?"

Shaojia growled deeply and sat up to face Jimmy. "Hells no!" He marched angrily towards the projector and turned it on. He typed in Laojiang-21 and waited for it to load. When it finished, an old man holding a staff with red tassels on its tip turned towards the screen. Shaojia bowed slightly before glaring at the old man with an irritated expression. "Laojiang-gong!"

The old man turned more quickly. "Ah, if it is not the young general!" Laojiang croaked with a coarse and wise tone. He bowed much lower than Shaojia did. "How may this Communications Master be of your service, milord?"

Shaojia brushed off the honorifics. "I need you to give a message to General Tian immediately. Tell him that I will be coming to the Imperial City by tomorrows break and that I am requesting the audience of all available soldiers. I would like to have a message delivered to Admiral Gao as well. Tell him about my arrival date as well and tell him that I request any free ships to be ready for transport immediately."

Laojiang nodded reverently. "Yes, yes, of course, milord. It shall be done."

Shaojia nodded. "Thank you, Laojiang. You have been of great help to me and my men. I highly praise your efforts."

Laojiang laughed half-heartedly. "Oh no, the honor is all mine, milord. I shall deliver these messages as soon as possible. Dsai-jian!"

"Dsai-jian," replied Shaojia as the two disconnected their transmissions.

Jimmy looked curiously at Shaojia. "Who was that?"

"That was Elder Laojiang, the Communications Supervisor of the W-12 Enforcer Community," Shaojia replied. "He oversees all communications coming in and out. Think him of as a living, breathing postal service." Shaojia proceeded to type in Yangli-141 and waited for the screen to load. Another old man, this one wearing a turtle shell on his back, looked up from a desk he was sitting at. His face reminded Carl of his pet turtle Snappy. "Yangli-gong," Shaojia said respectfully as he bowed slightly.

Yangli jumped in his shell and turned to face Shaojia. He laughed merrily, as if intoxicated. "Oh-ho-ho, why, if it isn't Emperor Wang! What is it that you need, milord?"

Shaojia grimaced at his title. "I'm not an emperor," he muttered. He regained his composure. "I request passage to the Imperial City by tomorrow."

Yangli frowned, his wrinkled face looking more aged than before. "But milord, we both know that no Enforcer can come back from assignment while they are on an assignment-"

"-unless they request help from their comrades," Shaojia finished. "That is exactly what I need; I have less than 200 humans for my army and we are about to go up against an army of at least 5 million. I have no interest in fighting a losing battle and this war may destroy this universal plane."

Yangli frowned then nodded. "Very well then. When do you wish to embark?"

Shaojia shook his head. "Tonight is too late, and I have already arranged to meet General Tian and Admiral Gao a few Sun transitions after dawn. Is that alright?"

Yangli nodded. "Yes it is, no problem at all. I shall see you tomorrow, milord. Dsai-jian!"

"Dsai-jian," Shaojia repeated as the two 'hung up.' He proceeded to slump into his chair and mutter a few words in Mandarin, many of them curses.

Cindy looked at Shaojia curiously this time. "You're going to see your army? What good will that do?"

Shaojia snorted. "Obviously it's supposed to increase this army's ranks by twenty times! I have about 1.5 million soldiers in my army. Add that to the chance that if we can forge an alliance with the Yolkian rebels, we have a chance at victory!"

Ibsol nodded. "Yes, and most of the Loyalist forces are devoted to fighting the Rebels on the Yolkian surface. Last I remember, there were about 20 ships in the invasion force with 3000 Yolkians on each ship. How many ships are in your navy, sir?"

Shaojia thought for a moment before responding, "Oh 500 easy with a capacity of 4,000 men each."

Libby laughed in delight. "This war should be easy!"

Meiling laughed as well. "Yes, this war should take no longer than a month!"

Shaojia smiled inspire of himself. 'Yes,' he thought. 'A little bit too easy.' He decided to change the topic to prevent everyone's hopes from getting too high. "Jimmy, Cindy, you guys want to come with me to the Imperial City?"

Jimmy scratched his head in confusion. "Why do you need us to come?"

Shaojia shrugged. "Well you need to get instated into the Enforcer Ranks and Cindy probably wants to, too."

"I thought you said I couldn't be admitted!" Cindy questioned tensely.

"And how come I have to enlist?" Jimmy asked as well.

Shaojia sighed. "First of all, Cindy, you'd probably want to come to with Jimmy so you can enlist while our backs are turned, and so that the blame doesn't fall on me if you get killed by doing it behind my back, I'm allowing you to do it with my consent. Second of all, Jimmy, this universe is named after you, you have to enlist. Your universe is proven to be in nearly constant danger of destruction so you will have to enlist so that other universes can help you, in this case mine."

They both agreed to going until Carl asked, "Can I come too?"

Shaojia shook his head. "Sorry, but we'll need to have some people watch the base while we're gone. Therefore, I'm putting Libby in charge of the base for the duration of our absence." Almost immediately after he finished, everyone's stomach groaned. "But first we eat."

* * *

Shaojia and Meiling went into their rooms, the day's events finally coming to an end. The army of N-12 was in poor condition with less than 200 soldiers to fight its war. They were facing an army of 5 million Yolkians, and who knows how many Yolktars and robots! Meiling went into the bathroom she and Shaojia shared to wash up for bed while Shaojia took his outer robe and draped it over his chair. He sat on the bed and took off the Imperial footwear he had become accustomed to wearing since he was young. He slowly unbuttoned his inner robe, leaving only his armored chest plates and his pants. He took off the vest which was made of fine demon metal and bones to expose the underrobe he had worn the night before.

Then, Meiling exited the bathroom, looking very exhausted. She slipped off the Imperial slippers Shaojia had given her and slid into bed while Shaojia sat with his back on the bed post cross-legged, his eyes closed in deep meditation. Meiling crawled over innocently to where he was and put her head on his thigh. (A-Shaojia-ge?) she asked him.

Shaojia opened one eye to look at her. (Hmm?)

(Can I come with you to the Imperial City?)

Shaojia laughed dryly. (Why? You came here didn't you? Do you want to go back?) Though he was joking, a strange pain welled up in his chest, where his heart was. It was a feeling he had never felt before.

Meiling shook her head vigorously and sat up immediately. (No! I want to stay here, but I want to go to the Imperial City with you!)

Shaojia raised a questioning eyebrow. (So you intend to follow me everywhere I go?)

Meiling nodded. (Of course! I always have and I always will, you know that!)

Shaojia sighed as he finally opened his other eye. (A-Meiling, you have to understand that you can't follow me everywhere I go. I will allow you to come to and back from the Imperial City with me, but I shall not allow you to go to battle with me. It is too dangerous.)

Meiling pouted. (Then why do you get to go? You... you could die!)

Shaojia's face turned solemn. (I could...) he muttered. Then he stared defiantly at her, (... but I won't. I plan on dying at an old age, not as some guy in the ground. I still have a lot of things I have to do and I'll be damned if I'm going to get dragged to an early death by some two-bit soldier. I'll go when I'm good and ready!)

Meiling sighed, now slightly reassured. She straightened herself so that she lay on the bed properly with her head using Shaojia's lap as a pillow. (Mmm... good night Shaojia-ge,) she muttered.

Shaojia sighed. (Good night.) Outside, the ship sailed through the stars as it orbited the Earth. It was triple zero, 0:00, military time.

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**Hooray! This is my longest chapter ever! Review please! Review! Review! Review! Review! Review! Flames are okay too... REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! REVIEW! **

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**Translations:**

**-gong: **(pronounced gong) Chinese suffix for a respected person

**dsai-jian:** (pronounced zai (as in the 'i' kite) jeeyahn) Good bye

**qin ai:** (pronounced jihn eye) Dear (as in a letter)

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**I am adding a new segment for entertainment and feedback purposes for this fanfic. It is called 'Afterthought' and will be hosted by the characters of this fanfic with possible cameos from popular culture and my other fanfic(s). Let's begin. **

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Author: So what did you guys think of this chapter?

Shaojia: (shrugs) Eh, no offense pal, but you SUCK at fluff moments!

Cindy: (shrugs) Well, at least he got the job done! I was beginning to wonder if Nickelodeon, which he does not own, was ever going to get me and Jimmy together!

Sheen: (ducks under conference chair) Ah! Stop saying things about Nickelodeon, Cindy! They have the power to destroy Ultralord!

Shaojia: (mumbles) Oh great! Keep on talking then, Cindy...

Jimmy: I still can't understand how we managed to beat all of those Yolktars.

Author: (Shrugs) Hell, I'm the author and I don't even know how! Anyway, next issue is Shaojia's so-called resemblance to Inuyasha. Shaojia was actually a character model that I made for the character 'Shilong' in my other fanfic, 'Jewels of the Gods,' which is in desperate need of reviews.

Jimmy: (nods) I agree. I mean 8 reviews? Come on! What would Einstein say?

Sheen: And what would Ultralord say!

Cindy: And to clear things up, let's bring in our guests for this chapter, Inuyasha from 'Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale,' a manga and anime created by Rumiko Takahashi, and Shilong, Author's Original Character in 'Jewels of the Gods.' Boys?

(Shilong and Inuyasha come down)

Inuyasha: Feh, why the hell are we here anyway?

Shilong: Beats the hell out of me! We were supposed to be doing the next chapter of 'Jewels of the Gods' while we wait for the readers to review for chapter 6, and now we're here.

Shaojia: (looks at Shilong carefully) Hey, I remember you! You're Character Model ML-16! I'm ML-15!

Shilong: No fuckin' way! We're like brothers man!

Inuyasha: (sees Jimmy's crazy-ass hair) Aha! There you are, Naraku! (unsheathes sword) Take this! Wind Scar!

Jimmy: (runs while screaming) YAAHHHHHHHH!

Author: (slaps forehead) See you next time... (explosions in the back) If Jimmy survives that is...

Cindy: (looks worriedly at Jimmy and Inuyasha) Review to save Jimmy's life... please?


	7. Welcome to New China

**Chapter 7:**

**Welcome to New China**

**(Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of its characters. I do, however, own Shaojia, Ibsol, and Meiling. **

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**A/N: Recently I have found a few MIDI files with very profound and beautifully executed pieces of music. These pieces will never belong to me either. If you want to have a full grasp of what's happening and the entire mood of the situation, go to the websites in Author's Notes parentheses and follow the instructions to get to the MIDI file. I know this sounds confusing so here's an example: **

**Blah, blah blah. (A/N: Go to 'blank dot com' and click on, 'link name.')**

**Note: If there is a percent sign in the address, it will be represented by a (Per) **

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**Warning: Scenes in the later part of the story contain strong violence, language, and torture. Reader discretion is advised. **

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**Thank you for reading, now onto the new chapter! Woo! And stuff...**

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**Cindy opened her eyes slowly as her bedside alarm chirped. The night before, Shaojia had her and Jimmy set their alarm clocks to wake them up at 5 in the morning so that they could get ready. 'Ugh... only five hours of sleep! What was Shaojia thinking?' she thought in dismay. She smashed her fist onto the alarm weakly, but managed to turn it off. Then she looked over to where Jimmy slept to find him trying to turn off his alarm clock with both of his eyes closed sleepily. Cindy giggled. 

Jimmy looked over to where Cindy was giggling. "Mornin', Cindy," he said, weariness evident in his voice. He yawned "Should we go get breakfast or something?"

Cindy shrugged and stretched out her back. "I guess so, but I need to take a shower first." Jimmy nodded and laid back on his bed to rest for even a few minutes as Cindy walked unsteadily into their bathroom.

A knock on the door broke Jimmy's much needed nap. Reluctantly, Jimmy got off of his bed and opened the door to reveal an awake Meiling. She smiled kindly at him "Good morning, Jimmy, Cindy is awake too, right?"

Jimmy nodded and looked around the hall. "Yeah, but where's Shaojia?"

She sighed. "Oh, he left a note saying that he went to his meditation chamber. It's in the gym, behind a big statue."

He nodded. "So, Shaojia sent you to come and wake us up on his note?"

She shook her head. "No, he would have done that himself if he needed to. I decided to check anyways, though. Do you guys want breakfast?"

Jimmy's stomach answered her. He blushed and scratched the back of his neck shyly. "Yeah, that sounds nice."

Meiling smiled. "Well, I've already eaten, but go ahead and get yourself some food. I'll meet you and Cindy in the gym with Shaojia, okay?"

"Okay." She left and Jimmy closed the door. He sighed and crawled back to bed. "I wonder what this ' Imperial City' looks like."

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Shaojia approached a rather large statue on the far side of the gym. It was a spectacular gold sculpture depicting a great dog of regal resonance striking downwards with its front left paw. Its muzzle was closed and was formed in a thin smile, if dogs could that is. Shaojia got down on both knees and bowed respectfully, so much so that his forehead became parallel with the floor. (A/N: Called a 'kowtow') He whispered solemnly, "Kai men." 

The statue's 'eyes' glowed a crimson red before the statue slid upwards to reveal a grand room with the aroma of incense flowing outwards to greet the air of the gym. Shaojia breathed in the smell deeply and smiled. 'It has been a long time, Mother, Father...' Shaojia stepped through the extravagant passageway and walked up to a wall scroll hanging opposite to the entrance containing a painting of a man and a woman. The man was clearly of high nobility considering his robes; he wore a royal, crimson, men's cheongsam with the lower' skirt reaching all the way down to his ankles. A red sash was wrapped around his waist in an intricate knot. His sleeve cuffs were a brilliant gold along with the shoulder pads that jutted out from both sides. The traditional Imperial beads that were usually found hung around the neck's of powerful lords and emperors were a bright red. A single straight sword was strapped to his waist by a red sash that was wrapped around his waist in an intricate knot. The sword was in a black sheath that had a golden end with a dragon's tail extending from it until it reached the top of the sheath where the sword's hook-shaped hilt met the sheath. Upon further observation, it appeared to be the same sword as Shaojia's straight sword. The man wore no headpiece but the strong and regal air that surrounded him, even as a portrait, made evidently clear that he was an official of the highest order; he was the emperor.

The woman beside him had his hands wrapped around her. She wore a crimson, long-sleeved cheongsam that had golden dragons winding around from the front of her collar all the way down to the end of her long blouse. She had no headpiece as well, but from the intimate position she was in with the other person, the emperor, she was obviously the empress. Her hair was tied back in a pony tail while a single bang fell to her face stylishly. The man's hair was in the standard Manchurian braid.

The odd thing though, was the man's hair... as well as his eyes, ears, teeth and hands. His eyes were an unusual brilliant gold that looked wise and serious yet playful and caring at the same time. His ears were not where they were supposed to be but were dog-like appendages sticking out of the top of his head, and they were the same color as his hair, silver. His mouth was curved in a half-smile, revealing a dangerously sharp tooth which most would most certainly call a fang. His hands had claws at its fingertips that looked safe to some while threatening to others. Another oddity was the bushy, tail-like appendage that protruded from the man's rear and wrapped the two people in a warm embrace.

Shaojia dropped to his knees as gracefully as possible and kowtowed to the wall scroll, then repeated two more times. He slowly stood up and bowed at the waist to the scroll. He took off his outer robe, folded it neatly and put it beside the scroll along with his swords, walked to the middle of the room, and began his morning practices.

He began by standing in the middle of the room with his feet together and his hands in fists by his last ribs. He moved his right leg to a right degree angled position away from his body with slow, deliberate movements. Meanwhile, both of his hands extended forward so that it appeared as if he was pushing something. Then he pulled the rest of his body so that it met with his right foot, and his arms flew slowly to the sides and arced downwards until they met his thighs. There they rose and went back to his last ribs.

He stepped out horizontally with his right foot and bent his other leg at the knee to match it so that both of his thighs were parallel. (A/N: This position is common in Shaolin martial arts; it is called 'qi ma zi' or horse-riding stance.) He moved his right hand over to his left shoulder with the palm facing up and moved it so that it was right a below his diaphragm with his palm still facing up while his left hand moved over it with his palm facing down. It looked as if he were holding a large orb. (A/N: Called holding the Dragon's Pearl)

Then, he violently took a violent step forward with his right leg, his right fist striking at his normal forehead's level while his left hand made a fist and was leveled so that there was a straight line from fist to fist. His entire body was lower than usual on account of his right leg's knee being bent to support more weight.

He swung his left fist in an arced club coming from the outside to the inside while his right hand went back to his waist. Then he drew his left hand back to where it was a step before, in a fist thrusting out behind him and entered horse riding stance once again, this time sliding forwards with his right hand's momentum as he punched out with it. He then swung his left fist out like he did before and he repeated the motion of clubbing and sliding while punching three more times. Next, he turned around so that his left leg was forwarded, turned the left foot so that it faced the wall facing his back, and shot his leg out in a roundhouse kick. He brought it in slowly so that he was standing on one leg with his kicking leg tucked into his chest while his arms formed an 'X' in front of his face with the right arm on top.

Before he could continue, a pleasant aroma met his nose, his superhuman sense of smell giving him the person's identity. "Zao shang hao, Meiling-mei," he greeted without even seeing the girl. He relaxed his right leg so that it fell elegantly to the ground and he pulled himself into an upright, standing position with both of his hands behind his back. "Did you sleep well?"

Meiling blush at Shaojia's sincere tone and nodded. "Yes, I did, xie xie. How about you?"

He nodded and walked over to where his outer robe and swords lay and put them on. "Quite well, thank you. Jimmy and Cindy are up, right?" He walked over to the wall scroll once more and kowtowed. "Dsai jian, fu qin, mu qin."

Meiling nodded. "Yes, they should be eating breakfast upstairs."

Shaojia nodded in recognition and approached her. "Very good." He put a hand on her shoulder. "Have you eaten, yet?"

She blushed and nodded. "Yes, but what about you?"

Shaojia nodded. "Hot tea and mantou. Are Jimmy and Cindy supposed to meet us here or are we supposed to go to the meeting room?"

"I told them to meet us here," she replied. "Are we going to stay here until they come?"

Shaojia shook his head and pointed to where the elevators are. "No, we'll go to them. Remember, I sent a message to Admiral Gao and General Tian that we would be arriving around dawn and it's just past 5. We only have a little time left."

Meiling nodded. "Alright let's go."

The two walked out of the room as the statue slid back down behind them. Before they could reach the elevators, one of them slid down, and Jimmy and Cindy stepped off of it. "Hi guys," Jimmy called waving.

Shaojia nodded. "Good, you're done eating. Well, get back onto the lift, so that we can get to the proper floor."

Cindy looked back to the elevator. "And that would be?"

Shaojia stepped onto the elevator and waited for everyone else to get on. He pressed a button marked with a '5.' "One of the docking bays. We'll be using the teleporter to get to the Imperial City and only sanctioned Enforcer's know the code." The elevator slid down slowly. Shaojia turned to look at Jimmy and Cindy's clothes and took a judgmental sniff, instantly wishing he hadn't. "We're gonna' need to get you two some clothes when we get to the Imperial City," he muttered.

"And why would that be?" Cindy questioned rather indignantly while she balled up her fists.

Shaojia ignored her hostile tone and gesture. "To put it bluntly, your clothes stink. I know you probably use the showers, but your clothing still bear the scent of sweat and other... unpleasant smells." He then raised a bemused eyebrow. "You do know that you can use the matter generators to get yourselves some new clothes, right?"

The two he was talking to scratched their necks nervously. Meiling smiled and looked up at Shaojia. "Hey, Shaojia-ge, how long are we going to stay in the Imperial city? I want to go visit Seamstress Tien today and ask if the dress I asked for is ready."

Shaojia shrugged. "There should be enough time since I'll probably be running drills and counts up until dusk. Maybe you can get those two," he jerked his thumb at Jimmy and Cindy, "some native robes so that they don't stick out like sore thumbs in the streets. I don't exactly want to deal with a lot of questions and I'm sure that those two don't either."

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked, half out of curiosity and half out of irritation. "Do we really look that weird?"

Shaojia looked at Jimmy rather bemusedly. Biting back what would have been a very well-timed joke on Jimmy's outrageous hair style, Shaojia explained. "While the Enforcers in my universe are rather open-minded about different styles of clothing and different types of cultures, the non-Enforcer population, usually family members and very close friends of Enforcers, are not as open minded. They have rarely seen anything put of their society's culture, so they're bound to get more than a little bit curious if not frightened about your appearance. Especially the young children. Changing your clothes will help eliminate those questions."

Jimmy nodded in understanding. "I get it now. Since most of the non-Enforcer population in this 'Imperial City' we're going to has never been to any other universes and thus have never seen any other types of cultures, they might get scared because they've never seen people like me or Cindy before, right?"

Shaojia nodded. "More or less, that was exactly what I just said except shorter." Finally the elevator stopped. "Well let's go."

They continued to walk passed rows upon rows of weapons and spacecraft that vaguely reminded Jimmy of some science-fiction movie he once saw until Cindy stopped in front of the matter generator. Jimmy stopped as well and looked back. "What's the matter, Cindy?" By now, the other two had stopped as well.

She looked at Shaojia in confusion. "Aren't we supposed to get new clothes?"

Shaojia shook his head. "Yes, but I'd rather you buy them from the merchants and seamstresses if possible. Sometimes they don't bring in a lot of money in the actual W-12, but in the Imperial City, where people from all over China, Japan, and Korea come together and form a strong community, they can make a killing. Since it's my responsibility as the general of my entire universe's armed forces, I have to make sure that such a community stays strong and economically stable."

Meiling turned on Shaojia excitedly and pointed out, "See! That's why I always say that you should just take the throne! You'd make a great leader, Shaojia!"

Shaojia gritted his teeth as he continued walking towards the teleporter. "It's completely different! I'm only doing what's right and directing customers towards the struggling merchants and craftsmen. And besides, it's only a city, not an entire country!"

Meiling smiled. "I know, but that doesn't mean that you can't do the same to the Northern Chang Empire. Why, I'm sure that you can actually take it out of the dump it's fallen in. At this point, anything'll make the place look better."

Shaojia scoffed. "Why do humans have to have such good reasoning skills?" he grumbled.

Meiling giggled. "I doubt that humans have that much to do when talking about demon governments."

Shaojia grumbled incoherently for a few moments. "Well now that we're talking about politics, have you heard of anything about the Capitol?"

Meiling nodded. "I heard Elder Tzu and Elder Liang talking back in Tienshang. Elder Tzu mentioned something about the Capitol beginning to fall apart. 'There have been many riots as of late,' he said." She looked at Shaojia expectantly. "Please, Shaojia, at least visit the Capitol to see its state first hand!"

Shaojia took a grim nod. "Maybe you are right, Meiling. Maybe one day I will return to the Capitol and see what I can do to pull the Northern Chang Empire back to its feet." Then he shook his head and stared at the teleporter. "But for now, there is an immediate threat that must be stopped first."

Meiling nodded and she, along with Jimmy and Cindy, joined Shaojia on the teleporter

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**The sun rose over the mountains as dawn broke out throughout the Imperial City. Merchants began stepping out into the streets of the City as the military men marched out of their barracks. 

Today, the Mighty General is to arrive for inspection, reports Merchant Li as he handed out a charm to a customer.

Perhaps there is trouble in other lands, proposed Mr. Lang.

Most likely, uttered Elder Monk Lao.

The streets bustled with activity as some of the populous came out of their homes and went on with their morning activities.

No, you fold with both hands Yue, corrected a loving mother.

Yes, Mother.

In the nearby temples, the Shaolin monks went about their exercises.

Very good, praised Master Yan.

Thank you, Master, Junior Student Li answered gratefully.

In the military part of the Imperial City, the soldiers, mainly children and teenagers, lined up in their appointed ranks as their superiors barked out drills.

Present arms!

Order Arms!

Soldier, drop and give me twenty! I meant sit ups, not push ups! Now I changed my mind! 20 sit ups, no wait push ups, no, how about 20 laps? Double time! Go! Go! Go!

Jumping jacks, 50 of 'em, double time!

Bear arms!

Attention!

The bakers sold off their freshest goods to the early customers.

Mantou! Ba bao fan! Mantou! Ba bao fan!

Customers come in by the swarms to quench their appetites at the mention of the favored items.

I'll have twelve of these please, requested Elder Hong.

May I have a dozen of these? asked Mr. Sung.

How much are the mantou? inquired Mrs. Tian.

I'll have ten ba bao fan, said Ms. Yung.

Morning had just broken out over the Imperial City. And soon, war will be declared.

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**The bright light that usually told of a teleportation slowly dissipated as Shaojia and the others arrived in the Imperial City. Jimmy and Cindy looked around and were astonished at what they saw. They were currently in a courtyard of sorts. "Wow," Jimmy muttered. The courtyard was beautiful; crimson pillars mirrored each other across the grand courtyard. To one side was the exit which held an exhilarating view over a vast city. To the other side was obviously the ten-story high main building, which had a pagoda-like structure. The signature bamboo rooftops of the Orient gave the entire complex an ancient and historical atmosphere. 

Suddenly two armed guardsmen, both looking only ten, ran from the exits ran into the courtyard. Their armor was similar in appearance to the standard Imperial Guard except that their robes' colors matched that of Shaojia's inner robes: black primary color with red designs. They bowed instantly upon seeing Shaojia. (Milord!) they both said as they bowed. Instead of the usual kowtow or the waist bow, the guardsmen performed the kneeling kowtow; they dropped to their left knees and placed their left palms flat onto the ground while their right hands held their staffs to their side. Their bodies were leaned over their right knee while their heads were bowed.

Shaojia groaned mentally. 'Great,' he thought, 'there'll be a lot more of the Imperial treatment before the day is done.' Despite his inner ramblings, he nodded to both of them though neither of them could see it. (Good morning Guardsman Jungyue, Guardsman Tzutao. You may rise.)

They both rose and the one named Tzutao, a rather well-built yet thin individual, returned the greeting. (A fine morning indeed, milord. Would Your Imperial Majesty like for we, the loyal guardsmen, to escort Your Imperial Majesty and Lady Meiling to the Zhongjun Military Base?) Meiling blushed at the respectful title. Jimmy and Cindy just looked at each other and shrugged. Jimmy's watch was only built to translate written dialect.

(No, but your offer is courteous,) Shaojia answered. He looked around the complex curiously for a bit. (Where are the other guards? There should be more on duty at this hour.)

Jungyue, who looked very much like his companion, shook his head. (They are more than likely asleep, milord.)

Shaojia narrowed his eyes slightly. (What do you mean, 'asleep?' They were supposed to have been up like you two.)

Tzutao gulped rather loudly and paled slightly. (We simple guards know nothing as to why the other guardsmen are not yet awake, milord. They have always been up by now until Lady Meiling left the day before.)

Shaojia smirked and turned to Jungyue. (Ah that reminds me.) He took a small step forward. (How in every level of Hell did she manage to leave your watch when I made very clear last time that she was not supposed to come along on this mission? Better yet, how about the time before, or the time before that, or the time before that? Hmm?)

Jungyue gulped. (The Lady is like a ghost, milord! We, fools who gladly serve in Your Imperial Majesty's court, are unable to detect her movements, and she has always managed to slip through our diligent yet inferior eyes!)

Shaojia nodded and stepped back, smiling kindly. (Very well. You shall stay out here and keep an eye on these two,) he directed with his hand to Jimmy and Cindy, (and answer all questions they may have. I also want you to make sure Meiling stays here. I need to...) he glanced in an irritated manner at the main building behind him. (... take care of some business first.)

Tzutao and Jungyue exchanged knowing glances then bowed respectfully to Shaojia. (As Your Imperial Majesty wishes, milord!) they both said simultaneously.

Shaojia nodded and turned to Jimmy and Cindy. "Jimmy, Cindy, stay here and wait. I have to... get something from inside. It should take only a few minutes. If you have any questions, just ask Tzutao and Jungyue here. They understand English, though their speech may be a bit choppy at best." He then turned to Meiling. "Meiling, stay here as well. I promise it will only take a few minutes." Then he walked off into the main building without another word.

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**Jingcha, a guardsman at the home of the Mighty General, Wang Shaojia, walked sleepily through the hallways of the General's temple as the dying moonlight was replaced by a growing sunlight. He yawned. (Glad that Lady Meiling has left as usual after Lord Wang! Now the guardsmen can rest easily without the 'threat' of assassins. Oh how foolish Lord Wang is to think that anyone would attempt to harm the Lady!) 

Suddenly, golden orbs appeared in front of him peering down slightly at him. They appeared to show mild irritation, but the orbs themselves told of great fury. The owner of the orbs smiled to reveal a deadly fang. (So, Jingcha, this is why the guardsmen are not up yet? You wanted to take a little vacation?)

Jingcha blanched and fell backwards as Shaojia stepped out of the corridor he was hiding in, where the sunlight had yet to shine on it. The guard kowtowed pitifully in hopes of lessening his punishment. (M-milord! Your Imperial Majesty is back!)

Shaojia scoffed at the title and drew one of his swords... the straight sword! Liu took one look at it and paled considerably; it was the Imperial Fang, sword of the Late Emperor Wang Quanjia, Shaojia's father. The sword was said to have the ability to open the very Gates of Hell and bring and put souls there at the sword's owner's command. It was said to be able to conjure either one up to all of the nine guardian dragons of the Imperial Family and command them to slay an entire army of over a thousand men. And by the unamused glare from its current owner, Shaojia was planning on using it on him. (Yes, yet I see that your senses have not come back from their self-permitted vacation. I repeat, why aren't the other guards awake?)

Jingcha gulped very loudly and beads of sweat nervously accumulated at the side of his head. (Well milord, your guardsmen as well as I, your simple guard thought that there was no harm in us taking a break since Your Imperial Majesty and Her Highness were not here for us to devote our services to.)

Shaojia nodded in mock-understanding. (Ah, so you then decided that you could then use my home as your very own inn, yes?) He growled Jingcha nodded stiffly and braced himself for the sound of metal meeting flesh. Instead there was the sound of metal slicing through air. Jingcha opened his eyes and looked at the sword which was extremely close to his neck, barely a silk thread's width away. (Well, I gave you all lodgings in my home for a reason, and most of you have done what I suppose would have been expected coming from a band of guardsmen, not fully trained soldiers. For that, I shall be lenient this time, but I suggest that next time you ask me first before you decide to take a vacation.)

Jingcha nodded carefully as to not cut himself with Shaojia's sword which was still positioned at his neck. (Yes milord, this foolish guard has learned a very important lesson this day. He is honored that Your Imperial Majesty has chosen to show mercy upon him.)

Shaojia sheathed his sword and scoffed. (Hmm... just get out of here before I deem you qualified enough to at least get an ass-kicking for being so lazy.) Jingcha immediately scampered away to his room. 'Now where in all of the hells is my wallet?'

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**Tzutao coughed shyly as the three people he and his brother, Jungyue, were assigned to watch stood quietly. Finally, Jungyue became tired of the silence and asked the odd child in red in the best English he could muster. "Do... you have... any... question?" 

Jimmy looked at him oddly before remembering what Shaojia had just said before he left. "Um... when is Shaojia supposed to be at the military place?"

Jungyue looked to his elder brother, Tzutao, for help. Tzutao nodded and took over for his brother. "Uhh... Lord Wang... to meeting with General Tian within two sun transition. Is right, Second Brother?"

Jungyue nodded. "Quite right, First Brother."

Cindy cast a questioning look towards Meiling. "Lord Wang? I thought he said that he doesn't like using the titles?"

Meiling giggled. "That's because he's practically given up on trying to get people to stop calling him that here!"

Cindy nodded in understanding. Then she turned to the two guards. "Hey, aren't you two too young to be guards?"

The two child guardsmen looked at each other before bowing their heads. "Many... Enforcer and guard here... orphan," Tzutao explained sadly.

Jungyue nodded. "Those who are... of nobility... suffer from assassination. Those who are... children of... farmer and merchant... we suffer from... bandit and war."

"War?" Jimmy asked.

Meiling nodded. "Yes. In our universe, as well as other more agricultural universes, there is constant fighting amongst the Four Kingdoms. There is the Southern Chang Empire, the demon government that is opposed to the Northern Chang Empire, another kingdom and the same one that me, Shaojia, and many of the people in this city are from. The two Chang Empires are also in conflict with the human's Tang Empire which makes up the West of China and what is left of the Ming Empire makes up the East."

"The Ming Empire?" Cindy asked. "Didn't the Ming Empire become overthrown around the late 1800's?"

Meiling nodded. "In your universe as well as in many others, yes; the Ming Empire was to have been overthrown and replaced by some other power. However, the Ming Empire was only pushed downwards by the two demon factions and the other human faction. Right now, the Northern Chang Empire is not doing to well since Shaojia's father's passing, but thankfully, the other three empires weren't doing too well in the first place so now all of the Kingdoms are at a stale-mate." She sighed, "I just wish that Shaojia wasn't so stubborn and go back to the Forbidden City as soon as he could. The Northern Chang Empire is in dire need of a leader."

A sudden noise was heard coming from the main building -a sneeze- followed by an irritated, "Damned, accursed Wulong, saying shit about me." Shaojia finally came into view dressed in his military uniform. (A/N: Just so you know, it looks like the Chinese Mao suit except entirely black with red cuffs and a red dragon on the back). He still wore the cape and the shoulder pads, but the war medals were missing. A simple golden dragon insignia surrounded by five golden stars was displayed proudly on his chest, obviously a sign of a general. In his hand was a pouch. Its contents jingled and jangled like coins. He smiled and came into the courtyard and confronted Tzutao and Jungyue. (Jungyue, Tzutao, I assume that there has been no trouble?)

They both shook their heads. (Not of the slightest, milord,) they both said simultaneously.

Shaojia nodded and untied the pouch in his hand and took out... a fistful of Chinese copper coins. He gave an equal amount to the two stunned guards and explained. (Consider this your vacation pay. You are dismissed from duty for the duration of my stay.) He then turned away from the guards and led his quarry out of the courtyard.

Tzutao and Jungyue looked at each other, then the coins, and back to each other. (We're rich!)

**

* * *

**Jimmy and Cindy looked over their shoulders back to the courtyard as Shaojia led them down the steps that led to his home, or more accurately, palace. "How much did you give them, Shaojia?" Cindy asked. 

Shaojia shrugged as he looked out towards the city. "Around $100 US."

Jimmy choked on his breath in shock and would have fallen down the steps had Shaojia not grab him by the collar. Once Jimmy had caught his breath he screamed. "You gave them both $100?! For what?!"

Shaojia seemed to have ignored Jimmy's question and continued down the stairs, but he stopped to say. "1) because I can, 2) because they were the only guards at my house doing what they were supposed to do, and 3) because I want to give those slackers in the main complex an example of what happens when you do the job you're assigned to do." He continued down the stairs.

Jimmy and Cindy accepted the answer and followed him along with Meiling. Jimmy jogged up beside Shaojia and asked, "So... what's the plan for today?"

Shaojia shrugs as he continued to walk. "For me, I have to oversee my universe's Enforcer legion."

Before he could continue, Meiling jogged up to the other side of Shaojia and smiled. "And what is it formally called?"

Shaojia groaned. "The Imperial Army." He shook his head and looked irritably at Meiling. "You're trying everything you can to make me take back the throne, aren't you?" Meiling nodded happily and Shaojia smiled gently. Then he turned back to Jimmy. "Anyways, while I'm at the Zhongjun Military Base, you, Cindy, and Meiling can go shopping or whatever. Oh, and that reminds me!" He stopped and opened his 'wallet' up again and took out at least a handful. He shoved it towards Jimmy. "Take this."

Jimmy looked at the coins in astonishment and then looked back to Shaojia. "Why-"

Shaojia cut him off. "Well, I'm going to be gone for who knows how long, and, last time I checked, food and clothing cost money." He turned to Meiling and sighed. "And yes, Meiling, you can go see Seamstress Tien. Just remember to be polite to the old ha- I mean woman." He then looks up into the sky with a calculating gaze. "Hmm... it's the latter half of the Hour of the Rabbit," he muttered to himself. (A/N: That's 5 to 7 in the morning. The Ancient Chinese actually used the Chinese Zodiac to keep time.) He then returned his gaze to the others. "I have to leave now. Meiling, please help with the translations for Jimmy and Cindy. Bye!" With that he was off, first crouching low to the ground, then propelling himself to one rooftop, and then another.

Meiling turned to the two Shaojia had asked her to help. She smiled her cute smile of hers and chirped, "Well, welcome to the Imperial City!"

* * *

Shaojia breathed in the fresh air of the Imperial City as he jumped from rooftop to rooftop on his dash to the Zhongjun Military Base. 'Ahh... pure, fresh air that is so befitting of this city.' He looked downwards at the streets as he leapt stealthily through the skyline of the sacred Imperial City. Children played their games in the streets while their parents watched on with loving expressions. The merchants chatted happily with their customers and amongst themselves. Restaurant owners happily invited guests into their buildings, smiling a real smile. Shaojia landed on a rooftop and stayed their momentarily. 'So peaceful where the deadly jaws of war has yet to sample such purity. A place where there is no war, no crime, no corrupt governments killing thousands of people to get only half of an acre for their territory. A place that will soon be empty because of war, something that has yet to reach this place, yet it manages to do harm all the same.' He casts a sidelong glance to the mountains to the east, the Tian Shan, or ' Heavenly Mountains,' from Chinese 'folklore.' It was the final resting place for all Enforcers as well as all of the Chinese of W-12. 

He shakes his head and continues his journey across the rooftops. He hops from one rooftop, the bamboo tiling creaking slightly, then jumps to another rooftop, then another, and then another. After many jumps, he finally lands outside of a large complex that was completely out of place compared to the rest of the city.

He stood before a large gate that was identical to the traditional Imperial family's seal, a golden background with nine, red dragons dancing across the center. The gates were easily as tall as a four-story building, if not taller. The walls that stretched outwards from the gate were composed of the crimson-colored concrete that was characteristically found in many temples, palaces, and fancy restaurants. Despite the walls' and gate's height, Shaojia could easily see a formidable structure past them. It seemed to reach for the Heavens themselves, a pagoda-like structure that was at least forty-stories high. Sentries patrolled the walkways that the pagoda's hid from view while more sentries patrolled around the complex's walls. Two guards, both appearing to be around the ages of 11 or 12, were posted outside of the gates, their armor identical to the ones that Tzutao and Jungyue wore. They both stood stoically, staring blankly forward.

Shaojia approached them and smiled. (Guardsman Lang, Guardsman Huojia, a pleasant morning is it not?)

The two guards snapped their focus onto Shaojia, as if just noticing his presence. They performed the kneeling kowtow and kept their heads bowed. (General!) they both gasped as they bowed.

Shaojia nodded. (Rise.) The guards stood. (Have you been briefed?)

They both nodded. The taller guard, Lang, a young boy who had a stocky build like that of an American football player, answered. (Yes, milord. A messenger came from inside of the gates not twenty units ago, and he had told us that we, the honored guardsmen, were to take Your Imperial Majesty to the Officers' Chamber when He arrives at the gates.) Shaojia nodded, knowing full well that Lang meant that the messenger had come about twenty minutes ago.

(Very good, Guardsman Lang,) Shaojia praised. He then turned to the other guard, Huojia, another young man who was obviously the younger of the two. He had a rather thin frame but had a serious and no-nonsense expression in place. (And how about you, Guardsman Huojia? Do you have anything to report?)

Huojia shook his head slowly, as if uncertain. (Well... there is but one minor detail, milord. General Tsung Wulong has gone off on more treacherous rants while Your Holy Highness was away.)

Shaojia chuckled bitterly, his claws twitching slightly. (Well that explains why I've been sneezing so often,) he muttered. He then affixed his gaze on the golden gates the guards were posted in front of. (In any case, I shall handle that problem at a later time. For now, the Imperial Army is needed once more. You both have done well.)

The two guards bowed and rose in a single, fluid motion. (Thank you, milord. We, the simple guardsmen are grateful for Your Imperial Majesty's kindness,) they said simultaneously.

Lang spoke, (Milord, would Your Imperial Majesty like for us to lead Him to the Officers' Chamber now?)

Shaojia nodded. (Yes, please. The sooner I go, the sooner the army can become mobile, and the sooner this war is over.)

**

* * *

****(A/N: Go to w e b j a y. o r g/ b y/s a l i s h s e a/ c h i n e s e m u s i c i n m p 3 and scroll down until you find the link 'Stepping up.' Click on the word 'download' and enjoy.)

* * *

** Meiling led Jimmy and Cindy through the Market Area of the Imperial City. As Shaojia had predicted, people would often point and whisper about the two foreign children, but stop immediately when they saw that they were following 'Lady Meiling.' Finally, Meiling stopped at a kiosk stand with Chinese characters running down a scroll which Jimmy's translator watch translated that it read, 'Seamstress Tien's Heavenly Silk Wonders!' Behind the counter was an elderly woman wearing a beautiful azure woman's cheongsam that had crimson floral patterns adorning the sleeves and bodice. She had a wrinkled face, but there was an unsung passion and beauty underneath. She smiled brightly as she saw Meiling coming. (Lady Meiling!) 

Meiling smiled, ran up to the stand, hopped over the counter, and hugged the seamstress. (Seamstress Tien! How I've missed you!)

Seamstress smiled kindly and returned the hug. (This simple seamstress expresses great gratitude in knowing that milady has such feelings for me during her absence!) She pulled away from Meiling and straightened her clothes. (Now how may I help you, dear?)

Jimmy and Cindy made their way to the front of the counter as Meiling talked. She dug her toe shyly into to the dirt and giggled. (Well... you know that dress I asked for a few days ago?) Seamstress Tien nodded. (Is it done yet?)

Seamstress Tien laughed jovially. (Why of course child! Wait one moment,) she said before leaving to the backroom. A few seconds later, she exited the backroom holding a spectacular red cheongsam. The shoulders were hinted with gold flowers. The buttons were gold themselves as well as the Mandarin collar it possessed. A pair of red pants were included as well as a red sash for a fastener.

Meiling smiled brightly and hugged the old seamstress in gratitude. (It's beautiful! Thank you Seamstress Tien! Thank you, thank you, thank you!)

Seamstress Tien smiled and whispered gently into Meiling's ear, (I think that Lord Wang will be quite pleased, do you not agree?)

Meiling blushed as she took her new dress into her hands. (I-I don't know what you're talking about!)

Seamstress Tien smiled. (Come child, even this old seamstress knows a thing or two about young love! Believe it or not, I was your age, too! Sure it was under an entirely different dynasty back then, but young is young, no matter where the seeds of Youth are sown.)

Meiling blushed and nodded. She then dug into her pocket and pulled out two or three coins and handed them to the Seamstress. (Here, please take these for your help.)

But Seamstress Tien only shook her head politely. (No, child. Please keep those for yourself. I require no money, for I am content in being in this city! You and His Imperial Majesty have done a tremendous amount of good deeds for me, the simple seamstress. 'Tis the least that I could do in return. Oh, just remember to come back now when you have your own children! I am a master of Imperial tapestries and creating the clothing for you and His Imperial Majesty's children would be a great honor for me!)

Meiling blushed a brighter red than before, now almost as red as her new dress. (I-I'll be sure to keep that in mind, Seamstress Tien. Thank you.) She bowed slightly to indicate her gratitude.

But Seamstress Tien bowed deeper, intent on showing the utmost respect to the 'Emperor's 'betrothed.' (No, thank you, milady. I wish good luck to you and His Imperial Majesty!)

Meiling then remembered something and asked the seamstress, (Seamstress Tien, do you happen to have any clothing in stock for my friends?) she used her hand to gesture to Jimmy and Cindy. (They're from a different universe.)

Seamstress Tien reached over and grabbed Jimmy's chin, turned it this way and that, and did the same to Cindy. After a moment of contemplation, she clapped her hands in excitement. (Of course! I'll be right back.) She left for the backroom once again.

Jimmy and Cindy felt their chins uncertainly for a bit before turning to Meiling, who was posing with her new dress in hand. "What was all of that about?" Jimmy asked.

Meiling looked over to where Seamstress Tien had just gone. "Oh I asked Seamstress Tien to get you two some clothes, and-"

Seamstress Tien's entrance cut her off. (I think I have found the most beautiful clothes for your little friends, milady!) In one of her hands was a red Chinese nobleman's shirt, similar to the one that Shaojia frequently wears. It was a plain crimson red with the exception of the signature Neutron symbol on the back, which was in gold. It was obviously Jimmy's. The other one was a sleeveless, forest green, woman's cheongsam. A white lotus floral pattern ran down the side opposite of the buttons, which were on the left shoulders of course.

Meiling jumped up excitedly. (Oh they are wonderful, Seamstress Tien! But how did you get that symbol onto the red one so quickly?)

Seamstress Tien only smiled. (Oh, this old seamstress still has a thing for speed! Now, let's get your friends changed shall we?)

**

* * *

**Shaojia marched down the hallways of the main military building as the guardsman from the gate, Guardsman Lang, led him diligently and professionally. Guardsman Huojia was left at the gates. Finally, Lang stopped at a door, and he kneeling kowtowed to Shaojia. (Here it is, milord. This simple guard is not allowed to traverse any further.) 

Shaojia nodded. (Thank you, Guardsman Lang. You may return to your post, now.) The guardsman nodded and left. Shaojia took a deep breath and slid the bamboo door open and entered the room.

The room was filled with conversation as military officials talked amongst themselves. Shaojia recognized all fifteen of the military leaders in the room. General Tian was talking to General Cho about the current scenario while Grand Admiral Gao and Admiral Yu discussed engine stability. Admirals Chang, Tsu, and Li were arguing over naval maneuvers, General Huo was drinking tea with General Wu and Admiral Tzu, and General Yung was also discussing matters with Admiral Kang. General Song was massaging his temples as General Hong and General Tsung argued over military rations. Military leaders all, but they all ranged from ages 11 to 13.

Shaojia shook his head. 'Well, they sure act like their respective ages.' He decided to just ignore the conversations and went to his usual seat beside the arguing trio of admirals. He was about to work on some important-looking papers when one of the generals finally noticed him and kowtowed fully, shouting loudly. (Your Imperial Majesty!) Conversation ceased as the other military leaders kowtowed as well. 'Some more reluctantly than others,' Shaojia noted as General Tsung, Admiral Tsu, Admiral Kang, and General Cho were the last ones to bow.

He brushed the matter aside for later. (Rise.) They all stood. (Is the army ready for inspection?)

General Tian Quanbei, a 'pure blooded' dog demon from the Northern Chang Empire, nodded. He had a similar appearance to Shaojia; white hair, ears, fangs, and claws. The only difference was his long and bushy tail that he had draped over his shoulder to prevent it from getting dirty. He said, (As you have requested, milord. The army is ready for inspection.)

Shaojia nodded. (Very good. Let's go.) The leaders all stood and followed Shaojia out of the room and into the hallway. As Shaojia walked, he noticed that everyone was dressed in a similar fashion as him. The naval personnel's outfit was the same as his only with blue shoulder streaks and cuffs. The army personnel's outfit was exactly like his, only with no dragons. Shaojia groaned mentally. 'They are trying really hard to make me the virtual emperor of this damned city!'

**

* * *

****(A/N: Go to e m p 3 w o r l d . c o m/ m p 3/ 3 6 6 6 2/ S t a r (per) 20 W a r s/ (per) 20 I m p e r i a l (per) 20 March and click on 'Download Now: Star Wars- Imperial March.' Remember John Williams, this doesn't belong to me.**

* * *

They finally reached their destination, a balcony overlooking the entire complex. Over twenty-five stories below, the Imperial Army was in position. Columns of soldiers stood at attention, filling the entire complex, dressed in black military uniforms similar to Shaojia's with the Imperial symbol on their backs and helmets similar to Shaojia's military helmet on their heads. Dissecting the army into pieces, the soldiers were in square-shaped formations, 81 soldiers in each square (9 people on each side). There were at least 10,000 of these squares. '1,458,000 soldiers with the remaining 42,000 in the navy. This war will be a piece of moon cake.' Upon seeing him and the other leaders, the soldiers performed the kneeling kowtow almost immediately. (Sirs!) (A/N: Wait a few seconds for the music to sink in.) 

Shaojia smiled and looked around the complex. It was huge; it was probably half of the size of the US state of Rhode Island. In fact, every single soldier could lie down in the prone position, and there would still be enough room for 50 heavy artillery units, a W-12 style enforcer ship, and a nuclear missile or two. (Rise!) Shaojia shouted. They all stood with a glorious stomp as the soldiers jumped up and back to their 'at-attention' position, weapons at their sides. The soldiers were divided into different sections by weapon or class. The soldiers with staffs were in one section, the section for spear-wielding soldiers beside them. Then there was the archers' section, the swords section, the kwan dao section, the Scouts section, and the marching band, which played a famous song from a science-fiction movie someone saw while in service in another universe. (Present arms!) Though all of the soldiers had the standard M-4 rifle slung over their backs, they immediately presented their martial arts weapons.

The staff, spear, and kwan dao sections simply tilted their weapons, which stood at their sides, until they diagonally crossed their chests.

The swords section carefully drew their swords from their sheaths, careful not to harm themselves or someone else with the sharp blades, and held them vertically across their chests.

The archers simply touched their shoulders using the hand that held the bow.

And the scouts, since they never really had any weapons to begin with, unslung the rifles from their backs and presented them.

Shaojia nodded in acceptance. (Today, we will be going to a new universe, universe Neutron 12. Our enemies are called Yolkians and Yolktars, strange, egg-shaped aliens who, along with their robot allies are bent on destroying Neutron 12's Earth. There is also a minor hostage situation concerning the abduction of Neutron 12's Enforcer's parents. The Neutron 12 Enforcer Legion currently consists of less than 200 men and women, all young children like us. We will be their role models, training our new comrades both mentally and physically. And once they are trained to the most minimum of specifications, we shall seize the main enemy's capitol and burn it to the ground in the name of Wang 12!) There were several cheers of jubilation and envisioned victory. (Rest well, soldiers, sons of China. Today, we train our minds and bodies for war and say good-bye to those we cherish so dearly. Then tonight, we feast and we pray... for our lives... the lives of our friends, family, and loved ones, and... and the lives of the men who have fallen in past wars. But tomorrow, it begins. Tomorrow, we train, tomorrow we think, tomorrow... we live. Then... we fight!)

**

* * *

**Jimmy, Cindy, and Meiling walked through the streets of the Imperial City, now no longer attracting much, if any, attention at all. They all wore their new clothes, Jimmy and Cindy growing used to the Chinese garbs. Meiling looked over at the two people following her and asked, "So, where do you guys want to go next?" 

Jimmy shrugged as he looked over at Cindy, who was looking at the scenery. "I don't know," he finally answered. "Didn't Shaojia mention something about him not getting back until sundown?" Meiling nodded. "How about we go see the sights?"

Meiling stopped and looked at Jimmy curiously. "The sights? There aren't too many things to look at around here, though there is the dock, the Heavenly Mountains, the Great Wall Two-"

"Great Wall Two?" Cindy asked.

Meiling shrugged. "Eh, they had a copy of the Great Wall made using the matter generators a few years ago for the people who get homesick over here. Other than those three things, the only place left that we can go is the military base, and I don't think that Shaojia would want any of us to be there right now." Meiling walked over to the side of the street and sat under a large, nearby tree and waited for the other two to follow her lead before she spoke again. "I guess we can visit some of the temples."

Jimmy shrugged until a thought resurfaced from his memory. "Hey, aren't we supposed to register me and Cindy into the Enforcer mainframe?"

Meiling only shook her head and pulled out a piece of carefully folded paper out of her pocket. She skimmed down a bit and read it aloud in a bored tone, "'P.S. Meiling, I'll register Jimmy and Cindy myself at the military base. Stay away from the base until I come for you. I'll meet you, Jimmy, and Cindy at home around the beginning of the Hour of the Monkey.'"

Cindy rolled her eyes. "Well doesn't he plan ahead!"

Jimmy shook his head and looked at his watch. It read, '6:45 AM.' He groaned. "Now what?" A flyer that had been caught up in the morning breeze answered him as it hit him in the face. He pulled it away and used his watch/translator to translate the Chinese text into English. He read what it said out loud. "'Master Wang Shaojia's Shaolin students will perform tonight outside of the Jade Dragon Restaurant starting at the beginning of the Hour of the Rooster and ending at the end of the Hour of the Dog.' Huh, sounds interesting…" Then he did a double-take back to the beginning of the page. "'Master Wang Shaojia?!'" He asked in a shocked tone.

Meiling nodded as she took the flyer out of his hands. "Yeah, he was asked to teach his family's style of martial arts by the Jade Emperor himself, the 'God' so to speak in Chinese mythology. Shaojia's been learning it since he was 2 from his father and has practiced it since then. At least, that's what he told me."

Cindy and Jimmy both choked on air as the new information fully grasped their minds. "That's impossible!" Jimmy shouted. "Nobody can learn how to do anything even close to martial arts when they were only 2!" Cindy nodded in agreement.

Meiling smiled, clearly amused. "Well, you're thinking of this at human aging rates. Demons age faster than humans do, especially does who have canine qualities. Wolf demons, dog demons, even the kitsune of Japan, they all begin to act like 4 year olds when they are only 2. Actually, I've heard a rumor that Shaojia's father actually let him help out in battlefield stratagems when he was 4. Though, I'm assuming that most of his earlier strategies went along the lines of 'kill the people who are trying to kill you.'"

Cindy pouted. "So that's why he's so good at everything that's military-related," she muttered. "He got a head start!"

Jimmy shook his head until suddenly he came up with an idea. "Hey, why don't we visit where he teaches? Cindy and I can probably learn a thing or two from his students."

Meiling shook her head. "I guess we can, but his students' ages range from 5 to 14 year old humans and 1 to 13 year old demons. If you want to learn Shaojia's type of Kung Fu, you'll have to ask him to train you personally."

Cindy leaned back onto the tree they were all sitting under and sighed. "What are we supposed to do, then?"

Loud, brass, military-style marching music came from the east, catching everyone's attention. "What is that?" Jimmy asked.

Meiling sighed and collapsed against the tree trunk just as Cindy had done seconds before. "Shaojia must be addressing the army," she muttered. "I wish he wasn't so persistent and over-protective and let us into the base, that stubborn dog."

* * *

Shaojia sneezed as he and the rest of the military leaders walked back to their conference room. Everyone else stopped and looked at him worriedly, with the exception of General Tsung, Admiral Kang, Admiral Tsu, and General Cho. (Is Your Imperial Majesty ill, milord?) asked General Tian Yangyu, a young human appearing to be around 12. 

Shaojia nodded. (No, I'm fine, thank you.)

General Tsung Wulong, a 13 year old tiger demon from the Southern Chang Empire, scoffed silently. 'That fool must be coming down with a mere cold, pitiful mutt.' He had emerald green eyes and orange hair that went as low as his ankles with a single white stripe running down the middle. His skin color was a very pale white. Fangs protruded out of his mouth like the white cat ears out of the top of his head and the claws out of his finger tips. Three black stripes streaked across both of his cheeks. His long tail was orange with black stripes. He was a pure demon. General Tsung looked at his claws boredly as they continued to the conference room.

Finally, the group made it to the conference room and took their seats. Shaojia turned on the TV screen that was on the far wall like in every Enforcer base and he inserted a small disk into the receptacle. A picture of a standard Yolkian was on the left side of the split-screen mode while a picture of a Yolktar was displayed on the right. He took a seat between General Tian and Admiral Gao. (Alright, now that the regular infantry has been briefed over the situation, I'll have to do some more intensive briefing for all of you. But first...) He turned to Admiral Gao who paled slightly at his glare. (Admiral Gao, I noticed that no naval personnel were present at today's briefing, why is that?)

Admiral Gao sighed. (Milord, I, your subject, have dismissed the naval personnel to ready the ships. The engines are faulty and prone to malfunction. The other Admirals and I, Your Imperial Majesty's loyal official, were planning to brief them later today. With all luck, the entire fleet should be joining your flagship by tomorrow morning.)

Shaojia shook his head, as if in disappointment. (So you acted without my permission?) Admiral Gao gulped nervously, beads of sweat accumulating nervously at the side of his head. Shaojia rose and walked to the front of the room, his hand playing with the pommel attached to the Dragon's Desire. He unsheathed it, causing all of the officers, except for General Tsung, to flinch involuntarily. He inspected it using the fluorescent lighting of the room, and then he looked squarely at Admiral Gao. He smirked a bit and sheathed the sword and walked towards Admiral Gao. (At another occasion, I may have been irritated. For this, I am pleased in your actions. It is very responsible...) He flung out his wrist so that his fist was mere centimeters from Admiral Gao's face. (…yet irresponsible. Next time I wish to know of these things first hand so that I can make adjustments.) He then lowered his hand and transformed it into a comforting hand on the shoulder. (Other than that... good work.)

Admiral Gao exhaled in relief and nodded. (Ten thousand thanks, milord. I, the foolish admiral, will strive to keep this lesson in memory.)

Shaojia nodded and took his seat once more. (Moving on...)

* * *

A young boy wearing a white lab coat and a leather glove over one of his hands looked impatiently at the wall clock on the far wall of his office. Paosung groaned. 'Damn, it's only two. I got three more hours left!' He angrily turned back to his desk, picked up a nearby bamboo brush, dipped it back into the ink well, and continued to draw figures and characters on a piece of parchment. 'Well, at least it's only Sunday.' 

His work was interrupted by a loud and nasally voice from behind him. "Bu zhang Li! Bu zhang Li!"

Paosung groaned once more. "Gai si! What in the hells is it?!" he shouted angrily.

The voice turned out to be a young man in a lab coat appearing to be about the same age as Paosung. He fully kowtowed immediately and continued this three more times, a sign of subordination and respect. "I'm so sorry, Division Master! I was only here to give you a message!"

Paosung sighed and rubbed his temples, closing his slightly blood-shot eyes. "No need to apologize, I've just been so stressed out ever since the merger. Now, what was the message, Quanyu? Oh and you can get up now."

The messenger, Quanyu, stood up and bowed at the waist once more. "Ten thousand thanks, Master Li. The message was from Emperor Wang. He wishes for your audience, Master."

Paosung nodded happily at the chance to see his best friend. "Where is he?"

Quanyu looked anxiously behind him. "I was told to tell you roughly fifteen minutes ago. His Imperial Majesty should be here shortly."

Paosung nodded and reached into his pocket for a few coins. He pulled out two and gave them to Quanyu. "Good job. You may go now."

Quanyu looked at the coins in gratitude and kowtowed. "Ten thousand thanks, Master!" He scampered away without another word.

Paosung sighed when the messenger left, and he got up out of his chair and exited his office into the main laboratory. Like the innards of W-12 style Enforcer ships that he and his Lab helped create, the Lab 52 main laboratory, along with the other CelestiCorp instituted stations in the main building of the Zhongjun Military Base, was a sharp technological contrast compared to the rest of the facility. The walls were a sterile white hue while the rest of the room was adorned with chrome machines, test results, and an occasional inspirational wall scroll. 'I... need to consider taking those down,' Paosung thought bemusedly as he read one saying, 'If it takes all nine Immortal Dragons to bring rain to the entire world, you can put in at least five hours of work!' He shook is head thinking, 'They're not that inspirational.'

A hissing sound caught his attention. As soon as the mist caused by the CO2-powered door dissipated, a figure dressed in black robes entered the room while everyone bowed immediately. The figure, Shaojia, sighed, sounding rather irritated. "Rise," he muttered. After they all stood, Shaojia walked jovially over to Paosung. "Paosung, my good friend! How have you been?"

Paosung smiled and thrust his right fist horizontally over his chest while his left hand covered it, the Chinese hand gesture for friendship. "Fine, fine, and you?"

Shaojia smiled as Paosung led him to his office. "My health is good, but I think that I'd want to take a veeerrryyy long vacation after this. All of the tension, paperwork, and stress… it makes a guy feel old! Oh, and I guess that date with Miss Chen didn't go so well, eh?" He gestured teasingly at the bluish black spot over his friend's right eye.

Paosung groaned as he sat down in his office chair. He began muttering, "It's not my fault that she has such irresistibly curvy, bouncy, full brea-"

Shaojia shook his head in disgust as he waved his hands dismissively in front of him. "You only met her at an Enforcer assembly last June, and you oggle her chest midgets on the first date?! Have some self-restraint, man! Besides, she's at least three years older than you!" (A/N: Hey, if you can think of something better than 'chest midgets,' be my guest!)

Paosung sighed and covered his face with his hands. "Well if she's old, than that must mean I'm getting old too! I'll be considered a man in our universe in three more years! Face it, man, we're both getting old. So what if other universes classify us as young boys! In our universe, we're supposed to have at least one person in our minds that we would like to be with!" Then he looked up and glared at Shaojia. "And I was not oggling her! I was simply making a scientific examination on human females based on the sense of sight."

Shaojia shook his head in dismay. "I suppose one does get a little… desperate when he reaches that point in life. I suppose I'll have to find somebody that I care for, have kids with, and then die. It's a curse, I'm afraid; Dog is born, dog grows up, dog meets girl, dog and girl do the horizontal tango, dog and girl have pups, pups grow up, and then the dog and girl die of old age... But usually they're burned down to the ground with their palace, and their pups go on and become elite soldiers that travel to other universes and shoot alien races they haven't even heard of with a modest paycheck but still maintain the overall loneliness of growing up as orphans."

Paosung rolled his eyes. "To be honest, I can't see why you think you can complain. After all, you have Lady Meiling following you almost everywhere you go!"

Shaojia lifted a questioning eyebrow while his heart stopped beating for a second. "Care to explain?"

Paosung smiled in sheer amusement. It wasn't everyday that you can get your best friend, the heir to the Imperial Throne, backed up into a corner with no idea of what's going on. "Well, the Lady is always following you around, and I overheard three guys from the 55th Regiment betting on how long it will be until either she confesses her feelings to you or you her."

Shaojia leaned back in one of the visitor's chair in Paosung's lavish office which was adorned with several trinkets, wall scrolls, and the like. "Feelings… Whatever I feel for her should be my business alone, but I suppose that love is blind to those involved while clear to those intelligent to see it." He shook his as if clearing his thoughts. "Anyways, down to business."

Paosung nodded and leaned forward. "And what business would that be, my friend"

"I overheard a few guards saying something about a 'merger?' Care to explain?"

Paosung just sighed and sank into his office chair. "As of 24-hundred hours ago, the Departments of Shelter, Warfare, Registration, and Central Intelligence have merged into a 'super department.' The most competent of the department heads in Enforcer base is chosen as the 'Grand Department Minister' for the four merged departments. In this case, me, but I'm sure that a brain-dead monkey could do a better job than my three new subordinates. So now, I'm in charge of enrolling new Enforcers, researching and building weapons and ships for said Enforcers, making bases for said Enforcers to store said weapons and ships, and gathering and categorizing Intel for said Enforcers to launch said weapons and ships from said bases to blow the shit out of their enemies. Yeah, that's one hell of a fun job description!"

Shaojia shook his head in pity. "I feel sorry for you, and I am ashamed to say that I believe that this change may be to my advantage."

Paosung waved his hand as if brushing off the indirect apology and leaned forward, now interested. "And what advantage does this provide, my friend?"

"I need to register two of the combatants from the recently categorized universe, N-12," Shaojia explained. "You remember the blonde girl and the boy with the planet-sized head from a few days ago, correct?"

Paosung nodded and wheeled over to a wall. He pressed a red button which resulted in a square section to the wall left of the button to slide away, thus revealing a large, high-tech computer. "Yes I remember. Um, what were their names again?"

"Cynthia Aurora Vortex, AKA Cindy, and James Isaac Neutron, AKA Jimmy," Shaojia replied.

Paosung nodded as he typed in the names. "What are their current ranks?"

"Jimmy's the Chosen Warrior for N-12," Shaojia answered. "Cindy is just his girlfriend."

Paosung nodded as he pressed the 'enter' key. "There you go. Two Enforcers are now under N-12's roster. Only problem is that there's no N-12 Enforcer base yet, but I already appointed them a small area near the Imperial City so that we can keep a better eye on them and make sure they don't get into any trouble settling in… if that's alright?"

Shaojia nodded in acceptance. "Good work. I'll take care of that as soon as I can." Slowly he got out of his chair and leaned over Paosung's desk and patted his shoulder. "Paosung my friend, you have done a great deal of favors for me. How about we talk again later, say at the Jade Dragon Restaurant? My treat. My students are performing there tonight, beginning at 5, ending at 9."

Paosung nodded and rose as well. "It would be a great honor, my good friend." Then he smirked. "Though, I think your students went a little overboard in advertisement of the event." To clarify his comment, he opened his desk drawer, revealing a large stack of flyers advertising said event.

Shaojia chuckled. "I suppose they did. Next time, I'll try to remember to tell them to just post the flyers only at heavily traveled locations." He bowed slightly to his friend. "Well, I hope to see you then, Paosung-di. Oh, and, if you can, bring some schematics of standard Enforcer technology, weapons, engines, anything'll do. Dsai jian."

"Can do. Dsai jian, Shaojia-ge," answered Paosung as he returned the bow. Shaojia then left his friend's office. When the door finally slid closed, he sighed and slouched in his chair. He breathed in deeply then exhaled, and then he picked up his brush and continued working. 'Only three more hours...'

* * *

Jimmy lagged on behind the girls carrying several boxes, bags, and the like with much difficulty as they chatted up ahead. They had decided to go shopping for the at least five hours and spent the rest of the time they had left until they had to meet Shaojia back at his house sightseeing. 'I still can't believe there's a Japanese restaurant here,' Jimmy thought while he glared half-heartedly at the Japanese take-out box at the top of his load. They had eaten lunch for about an hour at probably the only Japanese restaurant in town which was ironically owned by someone from the Ming Empire. 

He looked around the large stack items in his arms. Up ahead was Shaojia and Meiling's home, the virtual palace overlooking the city on a tall hill like a mother would her young child. The girls continued to talk. Cindy started a new topic. "So what can you tell me about that restaurant Shaojia's students will be performing at tonight? Sounds pretty fancy."

Meiling nodded enthusiastically. "It is! It's run by one of the few adults in the City, an old monkey demon named Lang, though almost everyone else just calls him Old Lang. He's a retired Enforcer from twenty years ago. He moved out of the village me and Shaojia normally live in and now lives here after his wife died."

Cindy gasped. "She died? How?"

Meiling sighed. "At the time, no one knew, but now that I've read some of the scrolls and books Shaojia has locked up in the library at our house, and I think she might have had a type of cancer."

"What were the symptoms?" Jimmy asked from behind them. By now, they were already marching up the stairs, and Jimmy was having even more difficulty going up the stairs what with all of the luggage he was forced to carry.

Meiling looked back behind her in surprise until she remembered Jimmy's presence. "Oh well... Seamstress Tien says that Old Lang came up to her all of those years ago, about right after his wife had been told to stay in bed by the village doctor. I think she said that he told her about a weird lump near his wife's collar bone. That's all I can remember though."

Jimmy sighed sadly as he struggled up the stairs. "Poor guy, his wife was a victim of breast cancer. Very common among women."

Meiling nodded sorrowfully. She looked back up ahead and saw two guards standing at the palace courtyard entrance, both appearing to be 11. The one to the left of Meiling looked at his partner and nodded. They walked towards the center of the end of the staircase and kneeling kowtowed. (Lady Meiling!) they shouted in unison.

Jimmy leaned over towards Cindy while Meiling addressed the two guardsmen. "Hey Cindy, when do you think Shaojia's getting back?"

Cindy shrugged. "I don't know but I want to see what his style looks like. I've got Tai Chi and Tae Kwon Do under my belt, but maybe a little Kung Fu wouldn't hurt. You might want to get some training in, too," she teased.

Jimmy decided to ignore the underlying insult. "I read a few things on Chinese martial arts and I still have the Ultra Shock Dance Aid Master 8000 from a few months ago. Remember Sheen's fight with Yu Yee?"

Cindy giggled. "How could I? I mean. Sheen made an absolute fool out of Yu Yee, and himself, by doing the Macarena, the Can-Can, and the Tango! But I'm not too sure if the Kung Fu dance disk is gonna' help you in a real battle, Jimmy."

Jimmy shrugged. "I guess not, but if I remember correctly, Yolkus is at least 1.3 million light-years away. That's more than enough time to get some martial arts training in. Anyways, I need to ask Shaojia if I can tinker with his engines for a bit so that I can get it up to speed with my engines' technology."

"Why?" Cindy asked. "What's wrong with the engines?"

"There's nothing wrong with them, but from the rumbling of the ship's deck, it's not as good as it should be." Jimmy lowered hi load and sat down beside it, then motioned for Cindy to sit beside him. She obliged him. "Remember the hover car from that little run-in with Meldar Prime?"

"Yeah," Cindy muttered, actually remembering Jimmy's kiss with Angel, the alien girl they helped. "I remember."

Jimmy did not notice the hitch in her voice and continued. "Well I took a peak at that and I was able to rip out some of the engine technology and applied it to the Stratos X-1. Now my rocket can get us from Earth to Yolkus in three days, much shorter than our first week long trip."

Cindy nodded then noticed something up in the sky. She pointed at it and shouted. "Look!"

She was pointing at 25, black, large, arrowhead-shaped fighter planes driving through the sky at high speeds with the lead plane baring some weird banner. Meiling instantly recognized it as the Imperial Insignia of War: a broadsword and a straight sword forming an 'X' with the blades pointed down in front of a crimson background with gold borders. A dragon appeared to rise from the 'X' and encircled the two blades, facing the direction of the viewer with its fanged maw wide open. Jimmy and Cindy looked up at the planes in awe and wonder as they zoomed over the rest of the city. "What do you think that was?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy shrugged. "I don't know for sure, but I've heard of rally flights or marches that are meant to declare or announce something. The swords are weapons and the dragon is a symbol of power to the Chinese, so I'm guessing it's a Declaration of War or something like that."

Soon, the shouts of the guards with Meiling were heard. "Milord!"

Cindy and Jimmy turned their heads. There was Shaojia, swords strapped to the waist, guards bowing to them, and his face distorted into an irritated glare. "Rise," he sighed, thoroughly tired with the Imperial treatment. "Dammit, next chance I get, I'm loosening some of these etiquette rules," he muttered. He looked over to Meiling and stood awestruck. "Looks like someone's prepared for the party," he muttered softly.

Meiling blushed and walked over to Shaojia while Jimmy and Cindy looked on in amusement. "Do you think we'll ever get to be like that?" Cindy asked happily.

"Sure," answered Jimmy. Then they caught themselves and scooted away from each other all the while blushing heavily. "I mean that is to say..." he corrected.

"Yeah, sure!" Cindy squeaked nervously. Meanwhile, the guards just looked at the two 'couples' in confusion and shrugged as they turned around to leave but not before picking up the boxes Jimmy had placed on the ground per their orders.

As Cindy and Jimmy remained a safe distance away as to avoid anymore embarrassing moments, Meiling and Shaojia began to end their conversation. "Alright, Meiling-mei, you and the others stay here and the courtyard and we'll go to the Jade Dragon" Shaojia said. "I need to change into something that doesn't make me look like I'm going to try and kill everyone in the room." He looked down at his robes with a mild irritation, giving himself emphasis by mentally counting off every concealed weapon on his person. 'Do I really need 20 knives?' he asked himself.

Meiling shook her head. "I'm sure they can take care of themselves. I want to freshen up a bit before the banquet tonight."

Shaojia nodded. "Alright, fine. Let's go." With that, the two left for the main building.

Meanwhile, Jimmy and Cindy were talking to each other, sitting side by side. "So Cindy, what do you think you'll do when this all blows over?" Jimmy asked as they both looked out towards the city. Far away, they could see more rally flights taking place over the Imperial City.

Cindy sighed and leaned over slightly towards Jimmy, putting her head on his shoulder. "Well, I know that when this is over with, we'll go back to our normal lives. It'll be better I think; no more Yolkians bothering us, no more Strych, no more Calamitous... They'll all either be in jail or dead." She turned her head towards Jimmy's. "And we... we'd be... together."

Jimmy looked over to Jimmy slowly, then back over to the Imperial City skyline which was now empty with the exception of two twenty-five plane squadrons. They were heading in the same direction Shaojia had gone earlier that day. "That'd be nice," he whispered softly. The sun slowly began to set. "Cindy, look! The sunset!"

Cindy gasped and clasped her hands together as they both watched the 'sun' of the W-12 Enforcer District set behind the mountains which held a heavenly and holy aurora all their own. "Jimmy, it's beautiful!"

Jimmy sighed as he and Cindy continued to watch the sunset. "How do you think Carl, Libby, Sheen, and Ibsol are doing?"

Cindy thought for a minute then giggled. "Libby's probably throttling one of them right now."

Footsteps were heard stepping across the courtyard. The couple turned around to see Meiling in the same dress as before except with her hair tied in an intricate bun. Shaojia, however, was an entirely different story. He wore a royal, crimson, men's cheongsam with the lower' skirt reaching all the way down to his ankles. A red sash was wrapped around his waist in an intricate knot. His sleeve cuffs were a brilliant gold along with the shoulder pads that jutted out from both sides. The traditional Imperial beads that were usually found hung around the neck's of powerful lords and emperors were a bright red. He had also changed back into his human appearance. As usual, his two swords hung by his side. He turned mournfully at Meiling and looked down at his new appearance. "I still don't know how in the hells you got me to wear this." She smiled sweetly in response. He sighed in defeat and turned around to called out, "Hey, are you guys comin' or what?"

Then, about 30 young boys appearing to be around the ages of 1-14 and 10 young girls appearing to be around 3-14 ran outside and assembled before Shaojia, all dressed in the traditional orange garbs of the Shaolin Order. They all shouted, "We are ready, Master!"

Shaojia rolled his eyes. "Cut the formalities, please. We're going to a party, not a war." The students looked at Shaojia in confusion. He sighed. "Never mind..." He then turned to the others and said, "Well, let's go."

* * *

Jimmy and Cindy walked behind Shaojia and Meiling while Shaojia's students followed them like dutiful escorts. The two American children looked about their surroundings as the large group traversed what Shaojia called, ' Main Street.' It was an array of high-class business establishments, five-star restaurants, the occasional tavern, a casino here and there, branching roads that led to courtyards which housed many important or high-class members of the Imperial City's society, a library, and, most surprisingly, a mall-type structure. More or less, it was the Chinese version of a street in Los Angeles... which in retrospect is actually Chinatown... minus the cars, fancy lights, and everything else that makes it glow or fancy. 

While the students behind them marched and Shaojia and Meiling talked, Jimmy and Cindy had their own conversation. "It's so... so big!" Cindy murmured in awe.

Jimmy nodded dumbly, which was an enormous feat for him. "I know... I've only seen cities like this in books and other reference sources. It's just like the Forbidden City in Chinese texts." Cindy just nodded.

Shaojia and Meiling stopped. Shaojia exhaled gratefully. "Finally!" he cried. "We're here!" Jimmy and Cindy just stood in awe as they looked the massive building the large quarry stood before. It was a five-story pagoda structure, its rooftops illuminated with the Chinese silk lanterns that hung off the corners. The sign was carved into a jade monolith with a golden dragon border. Once one stepped through the arch the monolith sat on, one was taken to an enormous courtyard that was probably for recreational activities, Kung Fu or military demonstrations, and the like. In short, the Jade Dragon was a spectacular building. 'And telling from the smells,' Jimmy thought, 'the food'll be better!' At the moment, the area seemed deserted.

Shaojia looked the building over before nodding. He then turned to his students and ordered, "Alright, all of you are to stretch, warm-up, whatever you need to prepare yourselves for tonight in the main courtyard. Me, Meiling, and these two," he gestured to Jimmy and Cindy, who coughed shyly in response, "will be inside talking to Elder Lang."

"Yes, Master!" they all replied. They all then scurried off into the courtyard and started their routine exercises and stretches.

Shaojia shook his head as he started walking. "They're like wind-up soldiers," he muttered in mild irritation.

When the four-person party entered the restaurant, the first thing they saw was a monkey in a suit cleaning a counter. The 'monkey' was really more or less a monkey that could stand upright. Suddenly, the monkey/man straightened his back and sniffed the air. Then his eyes widened, and he looked enthusiastically at the doorway where Shaojia and the others were. "A-Shaojia-jun!" the man/ape croaked happily. His voice sounded very old and tired. "Ni hao ma?"

Shaojia smiled as he walked up to embrace the monkey in a friendly and familiar hug. "Hao, xie xie, dan ni hao ma, Lang-jun?"

The monkey demon, Lang returned his friend's embrace then stepped back. "Hao xie xie." He then looked over to the crowd behind Shaojia. "Um, I know Lady Meiling, but who are the two Americans? Did the Roman Empire actually resurrect itself?"

Shaojia shook his head. "No, those two are from a newly named universe, Universe N-12. I brought them in for registration and orientation."

Lang tilted his head upwards and howled in a jovial monkey laugh. "Ah yes, it's movie night tonight. So you would like to have the orientation video shown tonight, yes?"

"No," Shaojia replied, "I only want them to watch it in the reserved rooms. The films are only 15 minutes long each. Do you think you can spare the time and the room?"

Lang nodded. "Of course I can, my friend; I can always spare some time to educate new Enforcers. Please, come this way!"

Shaojia nodded as he and the others started to follow the monkey demon. Lang led them to a secure room just five meters to the left of the entrance. Lang disappeared from sight, probably to set up the machines, while Shaojia addressed the two newcomers. He pointed to the several movie theatre-style chairs in the room. "Alright, Jimmy, Cindy, you guys can have a seat. Now, this is standard orientation for all new Enforcers."

"So we're Enforcers now?" asked Cindy.

Shaojia nodded and continued. "Yes, and I want to show you what you've just gotten yourselves into. Now, I'm going to give you two choices on which videos you can watch. What kind of introductory tape do you want to watch; the fireteams, artillery, general infantry, special forces, recon, air force, or navy?"

Jimmy and Cindy discussed for a moment before Jimmy answered, "We'll watch... the general infantry, special forces, and air force."

Shaojia nodded as he ushered Meiling out of the room. "Alright," he called back, "I'll tell Lang your choices. Enjoy!"

Jimmy and Cindy looked around as the lights in the room began to dim. Suddenly, a light flickered on from behind them, just like the projector in movie theatres. The two children settled down in their seats as the first presentation began.

_-Begin movie-_

5...

4...

3...

2...

Start!

**Narrator:** Welcome trainees to Enforcer orientation. I am Nara-4701, and I am the narrator for all of Universe W-12's Enforcer sponsored programs and events. The film you are about to see contains vulgar language as well as strong depictions of violence. If you are squeamish, too bad, ha ha! You will now view a mission video taped by a camera probe that followed a special forces squad, designation name Squad 11. Enjoy.

_A normal young man looking to be around 13 appeared on screen wearing the traditional uniform of the W-12 Imperial Army except the helmet was not present. The camera moved constantly, as if it were being held up by a bungee cord. The scene paused as green, computer-style characters scrolled across the bottom-left part of the screen. It read: Sergeant Huotian, Age: 13, Position: Leader of Squad 11, ID Number: 29-015 Status: Tactical Leadership. The man spoke._

**Huotian:** I'm Sergeant Huotian of the 29th platoon of Lizhou, and I am the non-com officer in charge of Squad 11. I give orders to my team and my job is to make sure none of us end up six feet under any time soon.

_The scene changes. This time, a different boy is standing in front of the unsteady camera wearing the same uniform as the one before. Again, the green letters scrolled across the bottom-left of the screen as the scene paused. This time, it read: Corporal Yangtzu, Age: 13, Position: Second-in-command of Squad 11, ID Number: 29-018 Status: Designated Marksman_

**Yangtzu:** (Looks around uncertainly) Uh... I don't know what you want me to say, but uh... I'm Corporal Yangtzu of Squad 11, I'm a member of the 29th Lizhou platoon, and I'm the second-in-command of my team. Um... I'm the long and medium range weapons handlers. I handle rifles, sniper rifles, bow and arrows, throwing knives... I use things that'll put a guy's eye out without them knowing who the hell killed 'em.

_Again, the scene changes. Another person, this one very muscular, walks in wearing the same uniform as the previous person as the routine begins anew. This time, the green words read: Private Cheng, Age: 14, ID Number: 29-024 Status: Demolitions Expert/Close-quarters Combat Specialist._

**Cheng:** (Coughs nervously) Uh... well... I'm 14, I'm a Private in the 29th Lizhou Platoon, and I'm a bit of a pyromaniac, I handle the team's explosives uh... Oh and I'm the team member who slits the bad guys' throats. Yeah, I'm the close-combat expert... Enough?

_The scene changes once more. Another boy walks in dressed like the three before. The green words read: Private Lo, Age: 12, ID Number: 29-020 Status: Communications Specialist/Automatic Weapons Expert._

**Lo:** I'm Private Lo... uh... I'm a Private from the 29th Platoon of Lizhou Province, and uh... Um... Well I'm the communications specialists for my special forces squad, uh... Squad 11. I handle incoming and outgoing transmissions... And I... I'm also the automatic weapons handler. If the team ever needs someone shot down quickly... I'm the man.

_The scene changes entirely to a forested area at night. Squad 11 is walking slowly with the standard Enforcer issue M-14 assault rifles held alertly in front of them as their eyes scanned the forest through their signature W-12 warrior helmets. The camera bobs towards Huotian. Huotian begins to speak, his voice, as well as the voices of all of the other squad members, muffled and scratchy due to the helmet on his head._

**Huotian:** Ah... Well... Universe K-15 has been experiencing some problems with a revolutionary group called the Red Eye. K-15 forces have been reduced to either corpses, whining mummies, or useless sacks of craps.

**Cheng: **With all due respect Sarge, they're just rookies. They can't hit the broadside of a damn planet!

**Yangtzu:** Can it, Private. They may be rookies, but they're still Enforcers. Don't know how, but they're... they're Enforcers... somehow.

**Huotian:** The point is, they couldn't do it, so now they sent the big boys in to clean up the mess; they want us to infiltrate a Red Eye camp and sabotage their weapons depot. Normally, we'd just blow the damn thing up, but no! They have their hands on some dangerous, nuclear shit and if we blow that up, we'd blow half the planet up. So, we'll just settle for screwing around with the bombs' innards and make 'em duds. Then we'll blow up the stash. Speaking of which, hey Lo, check with HQ and see how far we are from the Red Eye camp.

**Lo: **(Taps the side of his head with his hand as he kneels down) Copy, Sarge. (After a few seconds) Sarge, the Reds are camping out 50 meters straight ahead. Oh yeah, and there's a patrol coming our way. ETA 2 minutes, sir.

**Huotian: **How many units, Private?

**Lo: **(After a few seconds) Four enemy soldiers, sir. Standard plus sign formation, sir.

**Huotian:** Alright, Lo, take 'em out while the rest of us take leaks behind these trees. You're going in the bushes.

**Lo:** (Groans as he slides an American AR-15 assault rifle off of his back) But Sarge! The leaves prick my ass!

**Huotian:** Let's move out, 11.

_Squad 11 starts to disperse. Lo moves into the nearby bushes while the rest of Squad 11 takes position several trees up the trail. They are well hidden behind the hickory and pine trees the forest had provided them. Cheng is perched above the path on a tree branch, Yangtzu was positioned behind the tree across from the one Cheng was positioned on with his M-4 held firmly in his grasp. Huotian has his M-4 slung over his back while his hands grasped an American M9 pistol. He his behind the same tree Cheng was perched on. The camera levitates upwards to provide a bird's eye view of the scenario._

_A group of four men, full-grown adults all, walk down the path Squad 11 had just deserted. There was a man in front (who will be referred to as Lead Man), then two men on either side of him following closely behind (Side Man 1 and Side Man 2 from left to right), and the man in the back (Rear Man). All 4 men were dressed in green guerrilla rags and carried Soviet Ak-47s. They are approaching the closest three Squad 11 members._

**Lead Man:** (Speaks with slight Spanish accent) Oye, Raul, why exactly are we out here anyways? It's not as if there's going to be any intruders in the forest.

**Side Man 2 (AKA Raul):** Hell if I know, Ignacio. Sergeant Marillo said that one of the tech guys picked up something on the sensors. I bet it's just a fucking squirrel.

**Side Man 1:** Pues... don't forget those teenagers that one of the patrols in Iquitos had killed, Manolo. I heard that they had killed fourteen men before the rotweilers finally tore them all to shreds. Pah, good riddance to useless garbage. They were only a hindrance to the Great Revolutionist.

**Rear Man:** (Walks up to Side Man 1 and hits him upside the head) Well Antonio... if you're so concerned about a bunch of stupid kids haunting you in your sleep, maybe you'd be more concerned when a real group of murderers try to kill us. These 'counter-terrorists' think that _we_ are the bad guys! Hah, what a load of crap. Those shit-heads must have truly lost their minds while rotting in their 'perfect' country. The Red Eye will show them the way. So just shut up! You're giving me one hell of a headache.

_The first three members of the Red Eye patrol passed by the three Squad 11 members._

**Cheng:** (Keys W-12 helmet's squad communications channel) Sir, requesting permission to kill the rear guard.

**Huotian:** Permission granted. After Cheng kills the rear guard, Lo, pick off the lead man when he's turned, silencer please. Yangtzu, take out your man. I'm keeping mine alive to play with later.

**The rest of Squad 11: **Sir yes sir!

_Cheng prepares a garrote wire in his hands as Lo puts a silencer onto the barrel of his weapon while Yangtzu and Huotian check their weapons. Cheng adjusts his legs to the branch so that he wouldn't fall off of the branch and leaned over. He waited for Rear Man to pass slightly before slinging the garrote around his victim's neck and pulled. The garrote wire cut into Rear Man's neck as Cheng arduously pulled the dead body onto the branch._

_The remaining guards turned around after hearing the strangled gurgles of their companion. As soon as Lead Man turned around, Lo fired three shots into the back of his head. The side guards jumped in alarm and shock as the body of their patrol's leader collapsed to the ground dead. Before they could shout or run away like little girls, Yangtzu jumped out from behind his hiding place and shot Side Man 2 in the side of his head while Huotian ran out from behind his. Huotian shot the remaining guard in both legs as well as the hand that held the AK-47's butt stock. The M9's barrel then came down to point at the wounded man's temple._

**Huotian: **Not bad for a couple of kids, eh Raul?

**Raul:** Gah! Damn... Stupid Armando. He said that we'd be safe out here!

_The rest of Squad 11 gathers around their leader and the wounded enemy patrol unit._

**Huotian: **Now, I'm going to ask only once. Where precisely is your weapons depot?

**Raul:** Go to... Hell... American!

**Huotian:** Oh, we're not Americans. In fact, we're not from anywhere around here. We're the wind, the shadows (Presses gun barrel deeper into Raul's temple) the badass sons of bitches that are gonna' make any little niños you have orphans unless you answer our fucking questions. ¿Comprende?

**Raul:** (Nods quickly) ¡Sí, yo comprendo¡Por favor, apenas no me mate! I'll do whatever you want!

**Huotian:** Good... Now, I'm going to be extra nice to you and repeat my question. Where is the weapons depot?

**Raul: **Gah... It's under a large tent right behind the Kitchen Area.

**Huotian:** Good, now we're getting somewhere. Now, how many men are guarding the weapons depot and how many are guarding the camp period?

**Raul:** Huh? Oh, well, uh... There should be three guards guarding the weapons depot at all times... And there are two guards at every entrance to the camp. Both in watch towers.

**Huotian:** How many nukes are in the stock pile?

**Raul:** Wh-what?

**Huotian:** (Presses gun barrel deeper into Raul's temple) Don't act stupid, I know you know. Now, tell me how many nukes there are, and I won't blow your fuckin' head off!

**Raul: **Gah! Okay, okay, I'll talk. There... there are only three nukes, but they are huge; enough to destroy three cities.

**Huotian:** Good. Luckily for you, I only have one more question: Who is the Great Revolutionist and where is he?

**Raul:** Fuck you! I'm not going to betray my cause just because you want me to. You may be able to destroy this camp, but you'll never stop the Red Eye!

**Huotian: **Hmm... Hey Cheng, you're turn.

**Cheng:** With pleasure, sir.

_Cheng walks up to Raul and pulls out his knife. He embeds it into the man's wounded hand and twists it... hard. Raul tries to scream, but he is socked in the jaw by Cheng._

**Cheng:** Now, you're going to answer that last question, and I won't kill you and have you 'torn to ribbons by the rotweilers.' (Twists knife in opposite direction)

**Raul:** Okay! Okay! I'll tell you! The... the Great Revolutionist... I don't know his real name... he... he's the leader of the Red Eye. He's stationed in Moscow right now, trying to get arms and support from ex-Soviets. Please, that's all I know!

**Huotian:** Private, stand down. We're done here.

_Huotian walks up to Raul with his M9 in hand. He quickly slams the butt of the gun into Raul's face, knocking him out._

**Huotian:** Alright, 11, let's move out!

_Squad 11 begins to march in a single file line in the direction the Red Eye patrol had come from. Yangtzu, who is behind Huotian, starts to talk._

**Yangtzu: **Sir, I didn't know you spoke Spanish.

**Huotian: **You learn things when you're at the Enforcer Library, Corporal. When you know the native tongue of your target, they're backed into a corner that they can't fight out of by playing dumb. It also spooks them.

_Squad 11 continues to march. Huotian then stops._

**Yangtzu: **Sir?

**Huotian:** We're at the gate I think. Look, up ahead. Do ya see 'em? Watch towers. Take 'em out.

**Yangtzu:** (Slides M-4 onto his shoulder and slides off a Chinese QBU 88 sniper rifle.) Copy.

_Yangtzu goes prone and steadies his rifle on the bipods that it is equipped with. After putting on the silencer attachment, he practiced switching from the two targets, both wielding AK-47s. Left, right, left, right. Finally, he stops onto the one on the right. He pulls the trigger and switches quickly to the one on the left. He shoots that one as well._

**Yangtzu:** Targets neutralized. We are clear for infiltration, sir.

**Huotian: **Copy that, Corporal. 11, remember, this is a raid, but these guys have nukes, so be careful. We're going in stealthy, and we're going out with a bang.

**Rest:** Sir yes sir!

**Huotian:** Let's go, stay out of the roads. We'll scale up the walls of the watch towers. Lo and Cheng, you guys'll be climbing the left tower while Yangtzu and I take the right. Then, Cheng and I will move onto the camp while Lo, you and Yangtzu are to stay in the towers and pick off anyone you feel like killing off. Just cause a distraction _away _from the ground team. Night-vision function on now.

_At his command all members of Squad 11 tapped the right end of their crimson visors. The red color slowly receded to black and then glowed a pale greenish white._

**Huotian:** Spread out.

_Squad 11 split into the two designated teams, Lo and Cheng on the left, Huotian and Yangtzu on the right. The two teams quickly reached the guard towers. Huotian threw a grappling hook onto the top of the watch tower while Cheng did the same on his side. The two designated marksmen from each team scaled their respective walls while Cheng and Huotian grouped up to form a new team. Cheng and Huotian walked slowly towards the kitchen area which was distinguishable by the aroma of roasting chicken, cooked beef, and freshly made tortilla wraps._

_The muffled _pfft, pfft, pfft _of Yangtzu's sniper rifle along with an equally muffled _ratatatat_ of Lo's assault rifle was followed by the sounds of several collapsing bodies._

_The ground team (Huotian and Cheng) snuck through te grounds virtually undetected as the camp began to become more alert to the hidden snipers instead of the assault team that tread through the bodies fallen guerrillas. The three guards that were supposed to be stationed at the weapons depot, as indicated by the large crates of small arms, ammunition for said small arms, and missiles, had increased to six, undoubtedly due to the new sniper threat. Huotian keyed the private squad communications channel._

**Huotian:** Yangtzu, divert your attention to the guards at the weapons depot. Two'll be just fine.

**Yangtzu:** With extreme prejudice, sir.

_Seconds later, the tell-tale _pfft, pfft, pfft_ was followed by the deaths of three guards. Cheng and Huotian capitalized on the situation by taking the last three out with M9 pistol shots._

_Then, Lo came onto the line._

**Lo:** Sir, requesting permission to shoot the power generator by the flammable barrels on the other side of the camp.

**Huotian:** (After momentary pause) Permission granted, Private. Blow 'em up and turn it off.

_Seconds later, a large explosion was heard as men screamed and ran for cover and all lights in the camp went off, including the one above the weapons depot._

_Finally, the ground team reached the weapons depot. Cheng immediately went to work on removing the explosive mechanics on the nuclear weapons while Huotian shot at random inhabitants of the camp._

**Cheng: **Sir, one nuke down, two to go.

**Huotian:** Copy that, Cheng. Lo, Yangtzu, divert fire away from the weapons depot; one stray piece of shrapnel could blow this place to Hell.

**Lo and Yangtzu:** Affirmative, sir.

**Cheng: **There, two down, one remaining.

**Huotian: **Good. Hurry up on that last nuke, and then set a charge on one of the weapons crates. When you're done, tell me so we can start running.

**Cheng: **Done... and done, sir. Let's roll.

**Huotian:** Affirmative. Lo, Yangtzu, stay put until Cheng and I are out of the base. Then, feel free to run like Hell.

**Lo and Yangtzu: **Affirmative, sir.

_Under the cover of night and gunfire, Cheng and Huotian scrambled outside of the camp. Once their squad members were safe, Lo and Yangtzu spent what was left in their clips on whoever was not dead in the camp, slung their respective rifles, and climbed back down the towers using the grappling hook ropes from before as rappel lines._

_Huotian said nothing as the squad regrouped and fled to the safety of the forests. Finding some trees to hide behind, Huotian pressed the charge detonation button._

_The blast was enormous due to the large amount of weapons in the depot as well as the kitchen's propane fuel. Thankfully however, the nuclear missiles' exploding mechanism had been removed along with the nuclear core. The explosion's blast radius extended to about three feet from Squad 11's position. The screen goes black but a single voice is heard._

**Huotian:** We are the wind, the shadows... We are the clouds, the trees, the earth... we see what you don't, hear what you can't... We are everywhere, yet we don't even exist... We... are the Special Forces... We... are the protectors of the Realms... We are the strong, the proud, the Enforcers.

_-End Movie-_

The two children sat there in shock and awe as the next movie began.

* * *

Jimmy and Cindy left the 'private theatre' as Lang stayed behind to readjust whatever was moved or disturbed. For some reason, the entire restaurant was empty, furniture and all with the exception of a few tables here and there. "Where is everybody?" Cindy thought aloud. 

"I don't know," Jimmy answered. As if on cue, a waiter dressed in a blue, men's cheongsam with the Chinese symbol for 'longevity' covering it walked through the doors that presumably led to the kitchen. He carried a Peking style roast duck on a silver platter. The waiter walked through the double-door entrance. Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other and shrugged as they followed him.

Their jaws fell slack as they watched the spectacle before them. the chairs and tables that were supposed to have been inside were outside making a border around the square courtyard. The patrons, mostly high-level military personnel and their families and friends, sat at their tables watching Shaojia's martial arts students spar. Currently, two boys both appearing to be around 13 were fighting bare-handed. One of them wore a red sash while another wore a blue sash, probably to help distinguish the two fighters during their fast punches and lethal kicks.

Cindy's eyes followed the movements of the two combatants as the one with the blue sash roundhouse kicked the one with the red sash. Red easily blocked the kick with one arm, rotated his wrists so that he could grab onto his opponent's attacking leg, and pulled his foe into a punch. This was all in one movement.

Blue blocked his opponent's fist with the palm of one hand and used his free hand to capture the wrist. The two combatants were in a stalemate. They roughly shoved away from each other and landed in identical stances: front leg bent at the knee, front foot turned sideways, back leg straight, back foot turned at a 45 degree angle facing the front, and shoulders squared facing the front, a traditional Mountain Climbing Stance (A.N: Called deng shan zi).

A sudden cheery voice caught their attention. "Over here!" a feminine voice shouted. Jimmy and Cindy turned around to see Meiling waving at them while Shaojia and another boy, who Jimmy recognized all thanks to his genetically enhanced memory as Paosung, talked. They were all on the third floor of the complex, probably for privacy's sake.

After climbing the flights of stairs, Jimmy and Cindy walked up to the table the three were sitting at. Shaojia and Paosung ended their conversations. "Ah, good, you're done. Have a seat," Shaojia greeted.

Meiling whispered to Cindy something and then turned to Shaojia. "A-Shaojia-ge, Cindy and I are going to the restroom to freshen up, okay?" Shaojia simply nodded.

Paosung offered Jimmy a friendly hand. "The name's Li, but you can call me Paosung if you want, General Neutron."

Jimmy accepted the greeting and shook the young man's hand. "Uh, how do you know my name, Paosung? We've never been formally introduced."

Paosung nodded. "Well I may be an ex-Enforcer, but I still have access to mission briefings and such. After all, W-12 and N-12 will be entering a war against your adversaries."

"War?" Jimmy asked. "I know that we'll need several ships to have a successful rescue mission, but I didn't think that we'd have to engage in a war."

Shaojia shook his head. "Same here, Jimmy, but we don't have a choice now; the Yolkians have committed a strong offense; the kidnapping of your parents officially make your parents Prisoners of War and is then an act of war. And since the Yolkians are already engaged in civil war, the Loyalists to your friend Goobot would most certainly want you and your allies out of the way."

"But what about the Rebel Yolkians, the ones fighting against the Loyalists?" Jimmy asked. "Can't we ask them to help?"

Shaojia looked to the sky as if in thought. "We could..."

Paosung shook his head. "No, these, 'Rebel Yolkians' as you two put it, would probably want you to help them fight these 'Loyalists.' War seems unavoidable."

Jimmy sighed in defeat. "True, then there are also Calamitous's robots and the Yolktars."

"Yolktars?" Paosung asked.

Jimmy nodded. "They're some type of Yolkian supersoldier. Wait, I have an idea." He pulled out what appeared to be a datapad. He activated it and a projection of a Yolkian came up. "This is a normal Yolkian soldier. They're like normal chicken eggs, only with their armor as the shell and their main body substance the yolky part. A Yolktar is basically the same thing except that they're body mucus is like an acid that can burn through metal. At least, that's what our own Yolkian informant told us anyways."

"Yolkian informant?" Paosung asked.

"A POW really," Shaojia answered. "We captured him on the night of the invasion. Interrogated him and got him on our side." Paosung nodded in recognition.

Paosung nodded. "Well, I suppose since this conversation has reached a dead end, we'll have to go on to business." He took out several scrolls from a duffle bag hanging off of his chair and handed them all to Jimmy. "These are schematics of Enforcer technology. There are some on our armor, some on weapons, but most on our ships' engines, armor, and the like."

Jimmy nodded as he analyzed the scrolls one by one. He finally stopped at the one containing the engine schematics. "These engines are massive, but they could do much better." He placed it on the table so where Paosung could see it. Shaojia went over to the safety railings and watched the show. "See, my engines used to be like this, too... a year ago anyway. With this engine's formulated arc of capability, it would take at least four months for the entire fleet to get from Earth to Yolkus, the Yolkian homeworld."

Paosung nodded. "But how can we make them faster?"

"Simple," Jimmy said. "If I can apply some of my current rocket engine's technology to your ships' engines, the entire attacking fleet can be at Yolkus in less than a week, three days at best."

Paosung nodded. "Anything else you need to add? I have no clue what the other departments have been doing, so I'm not much help."

Jimmy looks back down at the scrolls. "Hmm... Well there's not much from what I can tell." He looks up from the scrolls. "I have some EMP projectile weapons that might be useful against enemy ships and mechanical units."

Paosung chuckled dryly. "Figures that the new kid can do better than a bunch of old codgers."

Meanwhile, Shaojia walks around the third floor's nearly vacant interior. The second floor's balcony is practically crammed with chairs and tables, as was the main courtyard minus the 'arena.' There were only a few chairs and tables left on their floor. He scanned the area. "Where are the girls?" he wondered out loud.

Jimmy looked over to him. "Oh they're probably still in the restroom, doing... girl stuff I guess." He then looked ath the scrolls and began to roll them back up. "Well, now that we're done with the schematics, what next?"

Shaojia looked over to Paosung, ignoring Jimmy for the moment. "Hey, Paosung, mind going down stairs and getting us a waiter?"

Paosung nodded. "Sure."

Shaojia took a seat as Paosung left and looked at Jimmy. "Well, I guess all that's left is a battle plan."

Jimmy nodded. "I think that we should send one of those Infiltration Shuttles that I saw in one of the orientation videos, and load it up with some Special Forces soldiers. It should be a simple rescue mission shouldn't it?"

Shaojia shook his head. "A good idea, a perfect one if that was the only problem, but remember, Yolkus is stuck in a civil war and getting the SF Troopers planetside is gonna' be a big problem. I was thinking about a full-scale invasion."

Jimmy stared at Shaojia increduously. "An invasion?! Sure, we'd technically be invading Yolkus with the Special Forces guys, but an invasion?!"

Shaojia nodded. "There's no other choice. This is war now Jimmy, I thought we've went over this."

Jimmy nodded. "We have, but I still don't see the need to actually fight a war. Can't we just pull some type of trick or a diversion or something while we extract my people's parents?"

"We could," Shaojia admitted, "but your enemies would still be alive."

"What do you mean 'still alive?' I don't want any of them dead!"

"Eustace and Calamitous, I guess that's understandable, but the Yolkians have an army. They actually tried to kill your parents on two seperate occasions, and most recently they tried to destroy your city using a bomb. If you don't stop them, it could be a problem."

Jimmy looked outwards toward the courtyard where Shaojia's students were now doing a traditional lion dance. He sighed in resignation. "I suppose you're right; war is unavoidable. But I don't want anyone getting killed unless it's necessary."

"Agreed, but let's not talk anymore about this until all of your friends and all of my high-ranking officials are present. We'll need some feedback from them too." Shaojia looked back over to where the girls had gone off. "Does it really take them _that _long?"

Jimmy checked his watch. "Strange, they have been gone for quite a while. Maybe we should go check it out?"

Shaojia nodded. "Right, I need to go anyways. Nearly twelve hours straight with no bathroom break is killer on a guy's bladder." Jimmy nodded in sympathy and began walking in the direction that the girls left while Shaojia wrote on a nearby napkin using a bamboo brush and inkwell from Paosung's duffel bag. "Just writing a note for Paosung in case he comes back."

"Good thinking," Jimmy commented. The two boys began walking in the direction of the bathrooms, creating small talk along the way. "Hey Shaojia, do you think you can teach me some martial arts?"

Shaojia looked over to Jimmy in mild surprise. "Why?"

"Well other than the fact that I'll be going to war soon," Jimmy replied dryly, "I... I kinda wanted to learn some form of martial arts so that I don't get... well emasculated whenever I'm in a tight jam and Cindy has to bail me out of it."

Shaojia sighed and nodded in sympathy. "Jimmy, I'm not the brightest kid on the block, I've been known to make mistakes concerning math, categorization of unimportant things... along with dates."

"Dates?" Jimmy asked.

"Yeah..." Shaojia scratched the back of his head nervously. "I keep forgetting when Chinese New Year is. Don't know how, don't know why, I just don't. But that's not the point. The point is that since I lack in these areas, I rely on others to help me out with them, which Meiling plays a part in. Jimmy, you don't want to be the, 'macho man' where you make everyone around you feel inferior. Life is basically like the US government."

Realiation dawned on Jimmy. "I see, it's like the Checks and Balances system where each branch of government, which are Executive, Legislative, and Judicial, have certain powers over their fellow branches, but are kept in check by the other branches' powers."

Shaojia rolled his eyes. "Did you really have to recite your textbook?"

"Why yes, yes I do," was Jimmy's smart reply.

Shaojia sighed. "In either case, yes I will teach you. I can't exactly have you getting yourself kid in close-quarters, you know. That big head of yours is a really big target for staffs and swrds."

"So what style of martial arts do you teach?" Jimmy asked, ignoring the light insult.

"Northern Shaolin Northern Praying Mantis, passed down for generations by my ancestor, Wang Bailong who learned it from a descenent of the style's creator, Wang Lang," Shaojia answered proudly.

"Wang Lang?" Jimmy queried. "Are you related by any chance?"

Shaojia shook his head. "No, but it would be ironic wouldn't it. Wang, Chan, and Chang are common last names in Chinese society."

"Ah, just like Jones, Smith, and Baker in English-speaking circles," Jimmy pointed out. He then asked, "So, when'll my first class be... Master Wang?"

Shaojia shuddered. "Please, not you, too! I already got enough people trying to kiss my ass and I don't like that part of my body getting kissed!" He began muttering lowly, "How in the hells did Father ever manage?" Shaojia then looked back at Jimmy. "Oh, and your training begins at 0700 everyday starting tomorrow."

Jimmy nodded then pointed to a sign beside a door, written entirely in Chinese. "Hey, that plaque says that this door leads to the women's restroom, right?"

Shaojia nodded. "Yeah... Hey I didn't know you read Chinese!"

Jimmy laughed. "I can read it, but I can't speak it. After this is done, I'm planning on taking a class for Japanese, Russian, and Mandarin Chinese."

Shaojia grunted. "It'd be wise to invest in a class in British, too. The words sound familiar, but I can't understand what the in the hells they say."

"There is no such thing as British," Jimmy replied. "They speak English except it sounds more sophisticated, Queen's English they call it."

Shaojia shrugged. "Eh, whatever you want to call it, I still can't understand what in the hells those guys say." He proceeds to just leave for the men's bathroom.

Jimmy nodded as he watched Shaojia depart. He looked over to the women's bathroom door and knocked lightly. "Cindy, Meiling, what's taking you guys so long?" he asked.

As if on cue, the restroom door flew open and smacked Jimmy right in the face. There was a gasp as Jimmy comically collapsed with images of atoms floating around him. As Jimmy's vision began to clarify and his face stop hurting, Jimmy saw Cindy leaning over him, checking his face for any injuries. "Oh my God, Jimmy, are you alright?" she asked.

Still slightly delusional, Jimmy managed a, "I'm fine Madame Einstein, and I must say that your cure for the Theory of Relative Pi was quite astounding in all fields of cheese..."

Cindy looked over to Meiling with concern etched on her face. Nethertheless, she joked dryly, "I think I knocked something in that big head of his loose."

Meiling then started to look around worriedly. "Hey, where's Shaojia?"

Cindy shrugged. "Maybe he's still back at the table, maybe he's in the restroom, too. Anyways, he's a big boy. A big boy with swords and fangs! He can take care of himself."

Meiling nodded, currently relieved. "Shall we drag him back?"

Cindy nodded. "Let's." Cindy grabbed one of Jimmy's arms while Meiling grabbed the other. Together, the two girls hauled Jimmy back to the table.

Soon after, Shaojia is heard sighing as he walks up to the table and sits down lazily. "I'm gone for five minutes, and thid happens," he muttered/ Then Paosung came into view with a waitress in tow. He asked Paosung, "What're we eating?"

* * *

Jimmy, Cindy, Meiling, Shaojia, and all of Shaoia's students arerved at Shaojia and Meiling's palace. Shaojia turned to his students and declared, "Students, file in." They did. "Tomorrow, you shall continue training. Elder Student Guan and Elder Student Hong will be your masters until the end of this war. Remember to be diligent in your studies, both in Kung Fu and in academics. Now go to your quarters. It is late." His students obeyed and left. Shaojia turned to Jimmy and the others. "Let's get going." 

"Going?" Jimmy asked. "Go where?"

"Obviously back to the ship, Neutron," Cindy answered smartly. "We've got to make sure that Libby hasn't killed Ibsol, Carl, or Sheen yet."

Jimmy realized the direness of the situation immediately. They had just left three bumbling idiots (including Ibsol) on a warship with technology they had never seen before. 'That can't be good,' he thought worriedly.

Shaojia went to one of the pillars and pulled a lever that was attatched to it. In a matter of seconds, everyone was engulfed in white light. Then, there was nothing.

* * *

**Translations: Mandarin Chinese**

**qi ma zi: **(Pronounced: chi mah sih) Horse-riding step (commonly referred to as horse-ridng stance)

**Zao shang hao:** (Pronounced: zow shahng how) Good morning

**gai si:** (Pronounced: guy suh) An expression of anger, similar to 'Dammit!'

**bu zhang: **(Pronounced: boo (with the tone of the 'oo' decreasing near the end, like a car going down hill) chahng) Head of an improtant department (usually governemnt); section head; minister; secretary (as in Secretary of Defense, Secretary of State, etc.)

**-di:** (Pronounced: dee, except very quickly with little air under it) Suffix for younger male friends or relatives

**-jun: **(Pronounced: juun) Suffix for a male friend

**Ni hao ma: **(Pronounced: nee how mah) How are you?

**hao: **(Pronounced: how) Good

**dan: **(Pronounced: dahn (again with the vowel tone dropping at the end) but/still/yet/merely/only/however

**deng shan zi:** (Pronounced: dang shahn sih) Mountain-climbing step (commonly referred to as ountain-climbing stance)

**Translations: Spanish (I've taken a few years of Spanish)**

**oye:** (Pronounced: oi-ye) hey

**pues...:** (Pronounced: pwes) well...

**¿Comprende?:** (Pronounced just as it looks) Understand?

**¡Sí, yo comprendo!: **( Sí is pronounced: see. The other two are pronounced just as they appear) Yes, I understand!

**¡Por favor, apenas no me mate!:** (Pronounced just as it appears) Please, just don't kill me!

* * *

**A/N: This chapter is a freebee; I no longer care about reviews, but all I ever wanted was feedback seeing as this is my first/second story and I'd like feedback from professional fanfic readers... Is reading a profession? I don't know. But at anycase, I no longer need reviews, but I'd still like them along with any other comments you guys may have (good or bad, I don't care which). At the end of the story, I will acknowledge all of those who have reviewed this story (gonna be a short list!). However, since I no longer need reviews, chapters may become worse, or they may take longer to develop. Thank you, now onto 'Afterthought.'

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**

Author: Well, since there's no reviews that we can comment on, how did you guys think of this chapter?

Jimmy: Did I really have to be smashed in the face?

Author: Yes, yes you did. Physical comedy is always the best kind of comedy.

Sheen: But I didn't even make an appearanc! Why must the mentally insane not appear?! Why?! (Falls over and knocks himself unconscious on the floor) Ouch...

Libby: That's why, now shut it.

Author: In the next chapter, we'll see how Libby, Carl, Sheen, and Ibsol's day had gone.

Libby: And it wasn't bery good y'all. I was stuck with these idiots (points to aforementioned boys)

Aforementioned boys: Hey!

Author: Stay tuned for the next chapter-sode of Military Science. This is Lou Dobbs and you have been watching... CNN. Good night America... and other places where they speaks ze English.


	8. How Was Your Day?

**Chapter 8:**

**How was your day?**

**(Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Jimmy Neutron or any of its characters. I do, however, own Shaojia, Ibsol, Meiling, and the Imperial Army of W-12. I wish I really had a massive super-army at my disposal, but we can't have an imagination and use it to accomplish our life goals and dreams, too, now can we?

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**

**A/N: Recently I have found a few MIDI files with very profound and beautifully executed pieces of music. These pieces will never belong to me either. If you want to have a full grasp of what's happening and the entire mood of the situation, go to the websites in Author's Notes parentheses and follow the instructions to get to the MIDI file. I know this sounds confusing so here's an example: **

**Blah, blah blah. (A/N: Go to 'blank dot com' and click on, 'link name.')**

**Note: If there is a percent sign in the address, it will be represented by a (Per) **

**

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Please note that this is a BETA version of this chapter. I came upon a writer's block and rushed through this chapter in hopes of getting to the battle scenes and rejoining you with the star characters. As such, do not consider this chapter as 'canonical' as it is only a BETA test. Thank you.**

**

* * *

**Libby opened her eyes as she looked around the room that she was forced to share with Sheen. She unconsciously looked toward said clinically insane Ultralord fan that was sleeping in his Ultralord pajamas with a little Ultralord action figure in his arms. She sighed. 'Well, it's not that I hate him or anything... it's just that he's a bit... wacky.' She shook her head and walked towards the bathroom to freshen up. 

She walked inside the bathroom and was about to wash her face when she noticed a note taped to the bathroom window written in crude English hand-writing. She picked it up and read it.

_Vice Admiral Folfax,_

_As you have been briefed previously at 11-hundred hours last night, you are in charge of Enforcer Base W12-1A until General Neutron, Colonel Vortex, and I return from W-12 Enforcer Headquarters. Expect us back around 11-hundred hours tonight, but do not stay up for us, I repeat, do not stay up for us._

_Until then, you are to carry out all training protocols and procedures as you had the last few days. Remember that Major Estevez, Major Wheezer, and Sergeant Nravalok are your subordinates for the time being._

_-General Wang Shaojia_

Libby looked at the note quizzically, wondering how on Earth Shaojia had managed to tape the note on the window without her or Sheen noticing. Then she saw the post-signature attachment.

_PS: You should really consider closing your door all the way and remember to lock it, too. I nearly fell when I tried to tape this to the door. As for why I taped it to your bathroom window... I don't know..._

Libby rolled her eyes. 'Great, even the guy whose killed at least one person in every universe is nuts.'

After she finished washing her face and brushing her teeth, she looked back over to Sheen who was now awakening from his slumber. Sheen looked over to Libby sleepily and murmured, "Mornin' Libs."

Libby smiled and answered, "Mornin' Sheen. Sleep well?"

Sheen nodded. "Yep!" Then his stomach made an awful rumbling sound. "Hey Libby-cakes, what's for breakfast?" He was answered by a hairbrush connecting with his skull.

* * *

Libby and Sheen entered the meeting room to find out that Carl and Ibsol had already eaten breakfast. It was no surprise, though; it was already 8 o' clock meaning they had 30 minutes until they were supposed to be at their respective posts to drill the soldiers. Sheen sat in Jimmy's chair which was across from Libby who sat in her regular seat. "So what are you doing today, Libby-kins?" 

Libby groaned in response. "Sheen, will you please stop with those horrible nicknames? It's like your not even tryin' anymore!"

Sheen looked at his bowl of cereal as if it were to blame. "I would be doing much better, but I forgot my '3 Trillion Nicknames to Give to Your Girlfriend/Boyfriend' book at home."

"Good!" Libby retorted.

Sheen rolled his eyes as he took a bite of his toast. "You still haven't answered my question, um... Libby-pie?"

Libby shook her head. "Nope, still horrible." Libby took a bite out of her pancakes. "Anyways, I probably have to read some more naval manuals. Did you know that this class of ship is the flagship and carries at least 50 nuclear weapons?"

Sheen nearly choked on his cereal. "Man, this ship can probably destroy an entire planet! Ooh, just like the Galactic Monarchy in 'Ultralord Battles Episode VI: Attack of the Furry Things That Look Kinda' Like Brown Teddy Bears But Can Kill You With a Rock!'"

Libby rolled her eyes and took another bite of her pancakes. "Ugh, will you please stop with the Ultralord-thing, Sheen?"

Sheen looked at Libby in surprise. "But Libby-queen! You know that Ultralord is my supreme passion!" Because of the angry look Libby gave him, he hastily added, "After you, of course!"

Libby just rolled her eys once more. "Anyways, what are you doin' today, Sheen?"

Sheen shrugged as he downed what was left of his cereal. "I'm probably gonna have to ask Nick to give me a hand with the troops for today's exercises and stuff. Hey, do you know how to get the simulation thing to work?"

"Best not to mess with that," Libby replied. "If Shaojia finds anything in this base messed up or broken, he'll probably kill you."

Sheen scoffed and began to make dramatic hand mations as he spoke. "I'm not gonna' break anything!" As soon as he said that, his hand collided with his bowl of cereal. Fortunately, it was empty. Unfortunately, he hit it so hard that it flew half-way across the room and broke against the wall. "Eh heh... oops..."

Suddenly, the broken pieces of cereal bowl began to glow and come together into a bright, white orb which floated in mid-air. The orb then floated towards the table and settled on top of it. The white glow slowly dissipated to reveal a fully repaired cereal bowl.

Libby and Sheen both stared at the bowl in utter amazement. Sheen then flashed Libby a cocky grin. "See, not broken."

Libby rolled her eyes. "The bowl ain't broken, but somethin' in yo head definitely is," she muttered.

* * *

Sheen watched the soldiers under his command as they were coming about their last lap around the track which was about a quarter of a mile long. Sheen was decked out in his Ultralord military uniform which greatly contrasted against the black uniforms Shaojia had issued them a few days ago. Then again, anything would contrast greatly against Sheen's uniform. 

Sheen barked at the soldiers, "Alright, your almost done guys. Uh... keep it up!" He was running out of inspirational things to say for he had just used up all of the ones he knew for the last two laps.

Sheen waited by the finish line as the first two people came across the finish line, Nick and Butch. 'As usual,' Sheen mused as he looked at the time for the stop watch he held. They both came in at 5 minutes, 14 seconds. Sheen looked over to the two boys who were currently talking about basketball or something of the sort by the watering hole which was just a giant water fountain. Sheen took out his clipboard and put Nick and Butch's times down.

He watched as more people sluggishly made their way towards the finish line. Sheen yawned as he kept an eye on the stopwatch. 'I thought the army was gonna be fun! Just like in Ultralord: Episode 429: Saving Private Ultra-Brian-lord. Ahh, now that was an episode among episodes!'

* * *

Goddard walked around his master's relocated lab. The night before, Master had given him the task of organizing and filing all of the intelligence collected on Master's raid on the Yolkian _Yolkus_-class frigate (or so files from Yolkian battle suits he had dissected earlyier indicated). He had been working throughout the night investigating the Yolkian technology Master, his potential mate, and the other sentient Master had called 'Shaojia' had recovered during the raid. 

At the moment Goddard was going over to a desk where the hypercube still lay. He had only gone through haf of its contents at the moment. He turned his mechanical head towards the pile of equipment he had already gone through. Its contents would make one think that the lab was an armory. He keyed the release button on one the hypercube and another Yolkian battle suit popped out.

Goddard barked and grabbed the battle suit with his teeth and began to haul it off to the pile of items he had already inspected since he had already come across thirteen of the same class of battle suit. He read the classification code on the suit just to make sure. Indeed, it was the same class, _Immobilizer III_- class battle armor. It was most likely the standard model for all Yolkian soldiers.

The _Immobilizer III _possessed as strong armor material of unknown classification. However, it was seemingly fallible to intense heat or pressure which one would find in any laser, sword, staff, firearm, or any combination of the aforementioned. The glass visor, however, was extremely fragile, like egg shells themselves. Goddard made sure that the notes he had recalled were still secured in his memory databanks for Master to access later.

Goddard dropped the armor onto the pile carefully as to not damage the suit or anything else in the pile. Moving on...

* * *

Libby's tired and bloodshot eyes scanned the pages of the naval manual as she sat at the captain's chair of the bridge of the ship. '... When approaching a friendly vessle, always use the...' She yawned, put the manual in her chair, and got up. 

She looked outside of the viewport of the bridge. It showed a spectacular view of the depths of space as well as the ship which was a grayish-white vessle brissling with turrets. The ship itself was in the shape of a wedge. (A/N: Type "Star Destroyer" at GoogleImages. Yes, I'm not that original but neither is CelestiCorp then. They stole it, not me!) Telling from the manual she had just put down, the ship she and everyone else was stationed on was a _Devastator-_class Imperial Flagship. The _Devastator_-class has at least 50 nuclear missiles in its arsenal, 3,000 anti-fighter laser turrets spread across the ship's surface which are automated by a complex supercomputer accessible only by the highest ranking officer on board, 300 _Infiltrator-_class landing shuttles to take troops to where ever they need to go with 15 soldiers in each shuttle, a tractor beam to reel in any ship small enough and/or dumb enough to get in its way, two docking bays which hold the 300 aforementioned shuttles and 3,500 _Deity-_class starfighters (A/N: Which look like solid-black, American F-22 Raptors) which sported 10 relatively small _Hiroshima-_class nuclear missiles (which can destroy entire cities, hence the name) and twin laser cannons on each of the wings, and a very powerful shield system that can withstand a continuous barrage from the same class of ship for an entire without repairs.

She then looked around the bridge. The bridge itself was more or less an enormous sportscaster box like you would find at any major sports event sitting on top of a dense spire (A/N: Again, think Star Destroyer). The interior of the bridge was sterile-white; sterile-white walls, sterile-white floors, even sterile-white uniforms for the main crew. Libby looked at the uniforms Shaojia had given the naval personnel in distaste though she still wore her own personalized uniform. The crew wore a solid white naval uniform reminiscent to US Navy dress uniforms with gold, decorative trimmings on the shoulders. The crew all wore white garrison caps on top of their heads as well.

The crew were all arranged in a U-shaped 'trench' where all of the command consoles and the like were with the opening of the 'U' facing the elevator door that led to the other levels of the ship. The captain's chair was behind a tactical computer screen which was as tall as the ceiling (about 10 feet high). Behind the tactical computer screen was the viewport which then cycles back a few paragraphs. (A/N: You gotta appreciate things that break the Fourth Wall... or the computer monitor in this case.)

Libby walked back to her seat and picked up the manual. 'I joined the navy for this?'

* * *

Sheen wrote down the 'bulls-eye' score for Nick sloppily as lunch was about to start. Nick and Butch were still the best infantrymen he had, both skilled in firearms and were in great physical health. It seemed that Shaojia had taken off the security code for the firing range since he would be gone. 

A loud _beeeeeep_ was heard from the PA speakers found throughout the ship. The siren was of course the bell for lunch and Sheen finished recording the last soldier, a girl by the name of Rose who had managed to get a shot at the third farthest ring with both weapons. When he was done he yelped with glee and shoved his way passed the more civil recruits in a mad dash for the elevators. He was the last one to get on the lift before it began its descent towards the mess hall.

When the lift finally reached its destination, Sheen was the first one off of the lift although he was in the very back. Sheen ran to the lunch service lines where the matter generators were. Instead of all the kneeling and praying like the one in the meeting room, it was more like the dragon statue in the meeting room hall; you used a little scrolling orb that sat decoratively atop a marble counter, selected a food item or items from the screen projected by a small projector on the floor, and held out your hands so that the food tray that materialized didn't drop all over the floor.

Sheen walked over to the table where he and the others usually sat with his triple, deluxe, bacon-bacon cheeseburger sitting on its plate, ready to clog Sheen's arteries at any second now. When he arrived, he saw that Carl, Libby, and Ibsol had already arrived and were devouring their respetive lunches, an Ultimate Taco for Libby, a rib-eye steak for Carl, and that weird green thing that began with a 'Y' for Ibsol. Since they were high-ranking officers, they got a few perks including the ability to have anything they want to eat.

He slammed his tray down onto the table and slid slyly towards Libby, who just so happened to have an empty seat beside her. Libby rolled her eyes but was pleased nonetheless; having a crazy fool like Sheen sitting next to her was a great relief compared to sitting veside either one of the crazy, llama-loving fools who were still chatting away about llama behavioral motives and the like.

"Hey there, um... Libby-lumps?" Sheen tried desperately.

Libby groaned ang glared at Sheen. "Try 'Libby-lumps' again Sheen, and you're gonna' hafta eat that burger through a straw."

Sheen sighed as he took a gigantic bite out of his burger. "Well, I tried. Do you think Shaojia'll let me go back to Earth to get my nickname book?"

Libby shrugged as she took a more civilized bite out of her taco. "Probably not. He looks more like a guy who'd say 'yes' then shoot you outta' the airlock."

Sheen laughed but stopped as a piece of partially unchewed burger became lodged in his throat. He coughed a few times then proceeded to thump his chest before it finally fell down his throat. He then procceded to talk as if it was an everyday thing which wouldn't surprise anyone in the mess hall in any way. "Yeah, he kind of reminds me of Darth Ultralo-"

His inevitable Ultralord reference was cut short by Libby who grabbed his lips tightly in a death grip. "Shut it." Sheen just nodded in compliance.

There was an awkward silence with the exception of the constant chattering of Carl, Ibsol, and the rest of the crew. The silence was broken when Carl asked everyone sitting at the 'Officers' Table,' "Hey, what are you guys doing after lunch?"

Sheen shrugged as he finished what was left of his burger. "I dunno. Probably gonna see if I can get those sim-thingies to work. Ooh! Then I'll set up a game of capture-the-flag! It'll just be like that awesome game, 'Hola: Ultralord Involved!' It's gonna' be so awesome!" With that, he threw his tgrash into a nearby garbage bin and left for the elevators, presumbably so that he could go up to the firing range and arrange the simulation he had just described.

Libby rolled her eyes as she wiped her mouth daintily with her napkin and threw it along with the rest of her trash into the same trash can Sheen had thrown his trash into. "Bye, y'all! I gotta' go; the sooner I get to reading that manual, the sooner I'll be done." And with that, she also left though with less enthusiasm as her friend/secret boyfriend.

Carl and Ibsol just looked at each other and shrugged. Lunch would be over in a few minutes anyways, and then it's back to the manuals. Oh joy...

* * *

Carl, Ibsol, Libby, and Sheen walked into the meeting room lazily. It was about 11. They had decided to have dinner downstairs with the other soldiers. Now they patiently waited for the arrival of Shaojia, Jimmy, Meiling, and Cindy, all of whom Shaojia had said in his note to Libby would be arriving soon.

So now, Libby stood in front of the bamboo clock in the room as the time ticked slowly away. She sighed for the upteenth time as the hands read: 11:06. Libby turned to everyone else and clasped her hands together. "Alright y'all, it's gettin' late. Better call it a day." Everyone nodded tiredly as they slunked out of the room.

She looked out of the window in the meeting hall which, like the viewport on the bridge, gave a spectacular view of the ship. She yawned as she followed her comrades out the door.

Meanwhile, in the docking bay closest to the engines (the one near the bottom of the ship), a teenage war veteran, an orphan girl, a boy genius, and a girl genius walked out of the transporter.

* * *

**Finally, this chapter's done.I'm not exactly proud of my work here so suggestions are sought after. And now onto Afterthought.

* * *

**

Author: Well, this boring chapter has finally come to a close. What do you think guys? Guys?

(Everyone is asleep)

Author: (Smirks evilly) Aww... (takes out air horn)

Air Horn: HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

(Blackout followed by sounds of a brutal beating)

Shaojia: (Standing over bloody Author) Never... do that... again...

Cindy: (With bloody baseball bat) Yeah!

Jimmy: (With dented textbook) Right!

Author: Ow...

Shaojia: (Shakes head) Anyways, this chapter wasn't that good.

Author: (Fully recovered... somehow) Well it is a BETA version.

Sheen: Yeah, it was worse than Ultra Wars: Episode 1: The Poltergeisty Menace

Author: (Slaps forehead) That reminds me. I am now starting another program!

Jimmy: Not another one!

Cindy: Oh_ great_!

Shaojia: Gai si!

Sheen: Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo... (deep breath) ...oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

Author: Too bad! I am starting the trivia section, As you may or may have not noticed, there have been many cultural references as of late.

Sheen: (Wearing black Ultralord mask with hands cupping mouth) (deep, heavy breathing) Author, I am your father!

Author: And as a result, I am starting a trivia section. Here's how it's gonna' work. You the readers at home or where ever will get to point out these cultural references. At the end of each chapter after this, I will announce the cultural references found in the previous chapter along with the names of those who posted them. Any not found will be posted as well with myself (Author) as the founder/person/thing.

Shaojia: Technically, your 'trivia section' vaguely reminds me of wiki-

Author: (Points gun at teddy bear) Finish that sentence and the bear gets it!

Shaojia: (Cocks quizical eyebrow) -pedia.

Author: (Shoots bear then looks at hand which is sticking out of bear. Remembers that bear was a hand puppet) Shhhhhit... (Screams vehemently and loudly)

Jimmy: Well until next time.

Author: Motherfucking son of a ass-fucking doneky fucking motherfuck-whore! Ah dammit to motherfucking Hell! AHHH!!!! SHIT! DAMN! FUCK!

Cindy: The FCC aren't going to be happy about this.


	9. Human Yolkian War: Day 1

**Chapter 9:**

**Human-Yolkian War: Day 1**

(Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts' 

**_Narration during flashback_**

**_SOUND EFFECTS!!!_**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron.**

**

* * *

**

**A/N: Recently I have found a few MIDI files with very profound and beautifully executed pieces of music. These pieces will never belong to me either. If you want to have a full grasp of what's happening and the entire mood of the situation, go to the websites in Author's Notes parentheses and follow the instructions to get to the MIDI file. I know this sounds confusing so here's an example:**

Blah, blah blah blah blah. (A/N: Go to 'blank dot com' and click on, 'link name.')

**Enjoy! Oh, and sorry if this is a little late. I haven't had a lot of time to work on it.**

* * *

Shaojia opened his eyes. Thanks to his demon blood, his animal-like senses allowed him to see in the dark. Next to him, Meiling slept soundly curled in a little ball. He gently got off the bed and went to the closet to get his standard military garb but not before grabbing a calligraphy brush and writing down a note to Meiling. It was 5 in the morning and he had to make the preparations for his fleet and brief his crew. 

In W-12's military administration, each ship was assigned a permanent crew which consisted entirely of soldiers, most of which were trained, some not. The ship would then serve as a base; the soldiers would run drills, eat, sleep, and maybe call back home to loved ones. The ship was basically the universes' largest and deadliest moblie home.

Five minutes later, Shaojia was at the bridge of the ship, typing away at the main computer's consoles. "There," he said aloud. "Coordinates set, the fleet should be here in 3...2..." Just then, the entire viewport was engulfed in a bright, white light. "1." Before him were hundreds of _Devastator-_class Imperial battle cruisers.

Shaojia keyed one of the many flashing buttons on the console and two screens jutted out from either side of the original computer screen. The two screens came to life and were split into four sections; on the upper-left corner on the one on the left showed Grand Admiral Gao's face, the one under that, showed Admiral Yu's, a rather chubby, human face, Admiral Tzu on the one on the upper-right, and Admiral Chang under it. On the right screen, Admiral Li was on the upper-left split, under him was Admiral Kang, on the upper-right screen was Admiral Tsu, and the one next to it was blank. They all saluted Shaojia. "Sir!" They shouted in unison, some less enthusiastically.

Shaojia returned the salutes. "At ease, gentlemen." He then put his hands back to his sides followed by the Admirals. "I trust that you all remember the current situation?" They all nodded. "Well then, I want each and every one of you, including the generals, to meet me on my ship at oh-11-hundred sharp for a briefing with this universe's leader. Am I understood?" Again, they all nodded. "Good. Business will continue as usual. No slacking off on the crews half nor on yours. Dismissed." And with a salute, he turned off the monitors. He sighed and turned back towards the elevators. "Now for my own crew."

* * *

General Tian stood next to Rear Admiral Huang, another human, as he inspected the soldiers that stood in several 300 single file lines of 30 soldiers each on the lower docking bay. There were about 3,000 soldiers present. Right now, he, Rear Admiral Huang, Brigadier General Hong, Colonel Yang, Captain Mao, and all 3,000 soldiers were waiting for the ship's highest officer, Grand General/Admiral Wang Shaojia, to arrive. 

At that exact moment, Shaojia stepped off of the elevator lifts. Every single soldier in the room, though protocol simply calls for a simple salute, kowtowed simultaneously. Shaojia nodded in recognition and returned the bows with a slight bow at the waist. "Rise." They rose. "Good morning, men."

"Good morning, sir!" they all shouted simultaneously.

Shaojia nodded. "You have all heard the briefings. Now let me tell you how today is going to work. There will be a lottery, and 158 out of the who-knows-how-many squads here will be recieving a new squadmate. You are to treat that newcomer like anyone else, not a black sheep, not a small child, but a comrade, a brother-in-arms. But be careful; these new soldiers have never seen anything like we have.You are to train him or her, and you are to teach him the rules of engagement. Those going to the communication center will be doing the same for those stationed there. For the rest of you, you'll resume your daily routines. Am I understood?"

"Sir yes sir!"

"Good," Shaojia concluded. He saluted them all which they returned. "Dismissed!" He then stepped aside as the soldiers began filing onto the elevators with the exception of the pilots and technician crews of the fighters stationed in the current docking bay. The only other people not to get on the lifts were General Tian and Rear Admiral Huang. "General Tian, I need you to supervise all events for today, training, mess, and briefings. I have a feeling that this universe's army officers will need a little bit of specialized training. Rear Admiral Huang, I want you to teach this ship's current naval crew everything you know. Do you two understand your assignments?"

"Yes sir," they both answered.

Then General Tian said, "Sir, yesterday, you said something about Scouts?"

Shaojia nodded. "Yes, they were just admitted into the program roughly two days ago. If you can, do you think you can give them some training?"

Tian nodded. "Of course, sir. I'll be happy to."

Shaojia nodded. "Good. Dismissed." As the two left for the lines that were slowly decreasing, Shaojia sighed. "Next time, I'm asking for more elevators," he muttered as he watched the long lines try to shrink.

* * *

Jimmy slowly opened his eyes as his watch's alarm started to go off. He looked at it groggily as he fumbled with the alarm's ON/OFF switch. '6:00,' he mentally yawned. The night before, he set his watch to wake him up so that he could get ready for Shaojia's arranged class and maybe drop by and see how Goddard was doing. He hopped out of his bed and looked over to where Cindy was sleeping; she was sound asleep. Jimmy smiled slightly and went to get changed but not before righting a quick note explaining his absence to Cindy and placing it on the bathroom door. 

A couple minutes later, Jimmy was on the elevator wearing his red military uniform down to the engine room where his lab was supposed to be. "Ah," he said aloud to no one in particular, "it's gonna be great to be back in the lab!" In seconds it stopped. Then, a familiar bark came his way followed by a mechanical canine leaping onto him and licking him on the face. Jimmy laughed. "Haha, alright boy! Get off!" Goddard complied and sat by his master's feet. "How are ya, boy?"

Goddard barked a positive note and ran off to fetch a large file of test results. He dropped it into Jimmy's hand and activated his voice box. "Master, all tests have been completed. All weaknesses in Yolkian technology and armament have been highlighted. May I have a cookie?"

Jimmy laughed and dug into his pocket for one of Goddard's treats, a dog bone-shaped plate of titanium alloy. "Great, good boy, Goddard!" he said as he threw Goddard the bone. Jimmy tucked the file under his arm and patted Goddard on the head before getting back onto the elevator. "See ya later!" He looked over the files as the elevator slowly ascended to the training level. 'The _Immobilizer III _has armor deficiencies located at auxillary vents A and B as well as the main exoskeleton structure. The... huh?' Jimmy looked up as the elevator began to slow. 'I guess I'll look over it at lunch.' As he stepped off of the lift though, he was stunned by what he saw. Hundreds, maybe thousands of soldiers in identical uniforms, much like Shaojia's, were lined up at attention while higher ranking officers milled about through the lines inspecting the soldiers.

Then, a muffled, deep, masculine voice was heard to his left along with the sound of a rifle being cocked. "State your business."

Jimmy's hands unconsciously flew up to a surrendering position as he looked to his left. He was staring down the barrel of a rifle with its wielder wearing a helmet with T-shaped visor. Unlike the other soldiers in the room, this soldier's entire apparrel replaced the black with red and the red with gold. Behind him, he could feel another rifle being pointed to his head by probably another soldier. Jimmy was hysterical. "What are you doing?!"

The soldier pressed the rifle closer towards Jimmy's head. "I will repeat myself, stranger: State your business or you shall be dealt with accordingly!"

Then, from behind the soldier, a voice was heard. "Guards, stand down." It was Shaojia, in his human appearance. The soldiers shouldered their rifles immediately and stood at attention as Shaojia walked passed. Shaojia nodded a hello to Jimmy and pointed at the files. "What are those?"

Jimmy relaxed slightly but his subconscience refused to let him take his eyes off either of the soldiers that had just held him at gun point. "These are, uh... these are just the results from the raid. Goddard ran some tests on them and I think they might help us." He handed them over to Shaojia who looked at the files quickly before turning his attention back to Jimmy.

"We'll look over them later at lunch," Shaojia said before tucking the files under his arm and looking over to the rows and rows of troops lined up like the little LEGO people Jimmy used to make utopias for when he was 2. "Follow me; I need to wrap up some things and then we can start your first class early." Jimmy followed Shaojia to where three humans stood examining the columns of infantry that stood before them while six of the crimson-robed guards from earlier stood at attention nearby. Upon seeing Shaojia, they all saluted. Shaojia walked up to one of the soldiers, the one with an insignia that showed a golden dragon grasping one golden star while four more outlined its underside, something similar to Shaojia's, thus probably making him a general as well. "General Tian," Shaojia said to him. General Tian straightened his back more, if it were possible. "I would like for you to meet, General Neutron, our new ally." He waved a hand in Jimmy's general direction.

Jimmy waved shyly in return. "Heh... hi?"

Shaojia ignored Jimmy and turned his attention to all of soldiers as a whole. "I want everyone to treat General Neutron with the same respect you would give me. Is that clear?"

"Sir yes sir!" the soldiers shouted.

Shaojia turned back to General Tian. "General, rounds start now."

General Tian nodded and turned over to the troops. "Alright, men, the work day has officially started! Get moving! Phoenix Company, it's your turn to hit the track, five laps, go, go, go!"

Shaojia then beckoned Jimmy to walk with him as he started off in a new direction. Jimmy trotted up beside Shaojia and asked, "Wow, they really respect you, huh?"

Shaojia nodded as he looked at the files in his hands. "Yeah, and that's a good thing... in small doses. Trust me, become President and an active military officer, then we'll go grab lunch and talk about how annoying it is to have soldiers walk up to you with a pen and paper and ask you for an autograph."

"Does that actually happen?" Jimmy asked as they came upon an imposing structure. It was a gigantic gold sculpture depicting a great dog of regal resonance striking downwards with its front left paw. It was about the size of a two-story house.

"A few times," Shaojia answered. "I remember one of those times. It was after a mission during my second year as an Enforcer...

_-Flashback-_

_**We, my men and I, we had to take out an enemy anti-air bunker to get the planet ready for our invasion on the planet Berliner in N-5.**_

_A young Shaojia charged up a hill firing with a standard-issue M4 rifle at a strange alien-type monster with blue, reptillian skin, and a fanged mouth followed by seven other soldiers, all young boys like him, none being older than at least twelve. "Kung, get down!" he yelled at one of the boys while he crouched down by a convenient rock. Over his head, blue, orb-shaped beams of energy sizzled passed his position and nailed one of the boys right in the shoulder._

_**Just as we were about to get to the bunker, our demolition man, I remember him, Private Kung, the Berlinens took him down with some type of energy bolt.**_

_"Shit!' Shaojia cursed as two of the boys dragged Kung to Shaojia's position. "Medic! Get your ass over here, now!"_

_The medic, a young boy about a year older than Shaojia, ran up to the wounded private and opened his first-aid kit. "I don't think it's any good, sir! Damn bastards got him good on the jugular vein!"_

_"Fuck!" Shaojia growled and chucked a fragmentation grenade over his cover which caused many of the aliens to howl a horrendous scream of terror and pain as the grenade went off. "See what you can do, dammit!" he yelled as the rest of the group surrounded them._

_**The poor guy didn't have a snowball's chance in Hell of surviving that hit.**_

_"Shit!" the medic cried. "He's already gone!"_

_"Gone?!" cried a private next to him in utter dismay. "What do you mean gone?! He can't be dead!"_

_"Well he is!" retorted the medic as he put his hands on the fallen soldier's face and closed the blank eyes that stared at the sky as if waiting for a long awaited answer._

_Then, another soldier, a sergeant, chimed in. "Well if you two don't can it, you'll both be dead from bullet shots instead of energy bolts!"_

_Shaojia growled once more, angrier this time, as he shot down another one of the aliens. "Lo's right! If we don't blow that bunker, we're gonna run out of ammo, and then we're gonna die! Now clam up and listen!"_

_**With our demo man dead, we had no way to set the charges; the bigger the explosion, the more difficult the charges are to set and since we had to blow an entire bunker... it was pretty damn hard. Luckily, all of our charges could take as much heat as the Earth's molten core and as much pressure as 40 elephants sitting on it. And Berlinen explosives just so happened to supply more than enough power.**_

_"Alright!" Shaojai screamed over the gunfire. "Tao, Chu, Song, Huang, stay here and lay down some surpressing fire! Keep their heads down so that Lo, Yao, and I can charge up the middle and towards those downed walls!" He pointed to a waist-high piece of demolished wall long enough to partially shield two tanks' tires. "Then, we'll switch roles, got it?" They all nodded. "Good, now move!" he screamed at them as he took the det packs from Kung's corpse and strapped it to his belt._

_The medic, Chu, Private Song, Private Tao, and Private Huang unslund their AR-10 assault rifles and took up positions around the rock and started firing carelessly. Seconds later, Shaojia and his group bolted out from their cover and towards the wall they had to take in order to advance. Unfortunately, there were already three Berlinens taking cover behind said wall. Shaojia and Lo brought up their rifles and fired. Yao was caught in the arm. After a brief firefight, Shaojia and Lo dragged the wounded Yao over to their new cover while the other team began to advance. Lo checked Yao's arm and then turned to Shaojia. "It looks bad, sir! We may have to cut it off!"_

_**Unfortunately, on the way to a strip of cover we needed to make our final advance on the bunker, another one of our guys got hit in the arm pretty bad.**_

_Shaojia looked at the wound; he could see the bloody bone still sizzling from the energy blast's heat. Yao was unconscience from the pain. Shaojia looked at the medic, who had now arrived with his group, and said, "Chu, stay here and do the best you can with Yao. Song, stay and watch his flank. Everyone else, form up." Once the remaining three soldiers gathered around Shaojia, Shaojia roared over the hail of gunfire blowing over their cover, "Alright, men, here's the plan!"_

_**The plan was to have whoever was left, which was only me, a sergeant, and two privates since the medic had to stay behind with our wounded man along with another soldier to cover him, charge the bunker, guns blazing, so that we could get close enough to the bunker entrance. Then...**_

_"...we'll strap one of their grenades onto the dets and chuck it in!"_

_"But, sir," Private Huang objected, "are you sure it's power enough? I mean, our dets' shells are pretty damn tough!"_

_Lo grabbed the Private by the scruff of his neck like a dog and spat, "Listen, private! If their guns can melt all the way to the bone, don't you think their explosives can melt through our dets?"_

_Meanwhile, Shaojia was over at the medic's area where the medic was still treating Yao with Song guarding his flank and said, "Listen, I want you guys to get your asses out of here and to our LZ. Once the dets are set, you might not have time to run, so get going!"_

_The medic nodded and scooped Yao up over his shoulders like a gigantic sack of rice and started to move up the path to their LZ._

_After the medic and his group were far away enough, Shaojia took his rifle in one hand and a smoke grenade in the other. "Alright, enough talk, more kill! Let's move; go, go, go! Smokes, up and over!" At his order, the other three soldiers also took out smoke grenades and through them over their cover. A few seconds later, an enormous cloud of white gas began to form in front of them._

_**The only problem was that we didn't have these neat... Trojan-ish helmets back then, so that meant we were fighting blind in our own smoke.**_

_Shaojia charged up the hill followed closely by the rest of his group. "Stick together and stay low! They can't see us and neither can we so try and watch your fire!" Then, Shaojia bumped into a large figure. Even with his demon vision, he could only make out the basic shape of a Berlinen infantryman, an unsightly, ghastly, reptilian body._

_The Berlinen howled in anger and from what Shaojia could hear, it said, "Dnief reredna ien? Seid tsi saw?"_

_In either case, it didn't matter much to Shaojia as he shoved the barrel of his M14 into the alien's gut and fired until the clip was dry. Shaojia grabbed the gray orbs that the Berlinens used as grenades and kept moving. "Keep alive, men! There are Blue-Snakes everywhere!" Seconds later, the sound of scattered gunfire was heard along with Berlinen screams and collapsing bodies. Up ahead, Shaojia could make out the opening to the bunker, a doorway big enough for a Berlinen to walk through without having to crouch down or turn sideways, meaning about 7 feet high, 5 feet wide. "Alright, prepare to take flanking positions!"_

_The smoke was slowly starting to dissipate and Lo and Shaojia moved to either side of the doorway while Tao and Huang covered the 'squad's' rear flank. Huang turned to Shaojia as the smoke finally cleared. "Sir! No hostiles on our flank!"_

_**The moment we got there, I knew I had to be the guy to go on this suicide run; the sergrant, he had to keep the other two soldiers who came with us, and neither of them could do it because I knew for a fact that they'd bug out at the last crucial second with that damn explosive still in hand. And if I had stayed behind and let the sergeant go in... we'd all be screwed since he couldn't throw for shit!**_

_Shaojia nodded as he chanced a look at the interior of the bunker. Even though it was a military bunker, it was as shiny and chrome as a laboratory. Shaojia reached for the det pack he had attatched to his belt as well as the Berlinen grenade he had confiscated. "Cover me, I'm going in!" Shaojia went into a prone position and crawled like a snake to the nearest piece of cover, a titanium-like munitions crate. Shaojia took out the duct tape all soldiers usually carried in case of emergency repairs and used it to tape the grenade to the det pack. Then he activated the grenade via a small, red button on it's side casuing it to beep and a yellow light next to the red button to blink faster and faster with each blink and threw it as far as he could along with the rest of his own grenades._

_**Then came the hard part.**_

_Once Shaojia bolted out of the bunker, he said to his men, "If you don't wanna' die, hightail it back to where we landed and find cover now!"_

_Shaojia didn't have to say anything else as the two privates were already sprinting back to the LZ faster than a cheetah on steroids with him and the sergeant following closely behind. Shaojia looked at where he and his squad was in comparison to where the bunker now was; they were nearly a good quarter of a mile away. Still, the blast radius wasn't exactly measurable and-_

_**KA-BOOM!!!**_

_Shaojia was sent flying several feet forward along with the rest of his squad. Shaojia landed hard on his back since he turned at the last second to avoid hitting a rock instead. He looked around to see that the privates had both landed on their faces but were otherwise fine. Lo wan't so lucky; the explosion threw him off his feet and into an orange, tree-like plant. Shaojia groaned as he turned over onto his stomach. He yelled at the privates, "Get outta' here! I'll catch up later! That's an order, move!"_

_**Lo, the sergeant that was in my squad, he was thrown forward by the explosion and collided with a tree... thing. Whatever it was, it left him unconscience and a few broken ribs. I told the privates to get the hell out, and I went to haul Lo back to our LZ.**_

_Shaojia groaned as he got up and ran over to the unconscious Lo. Thanks to his demon senses, he could successfully analyze the extent of Lo's wounds; Lo was bleeding internally and had a few broken ribs but he would live if he was in the attention of a medic within the hour._

_Shaojia lifted Lo over his shoulders like a sack of rice and began the long march back to the LZ. Overhead, he could see the beautiful sight of Deity F-22 starfighters flying overhead as the invasion began._

_-End Flashback-_

Jimmy looked at Shaojia as he finished his tale. "To the rest of the army, I was a hero. To me, I was lucky that no one else was killed. Lo survived, and so did the other private that got hit, though he did lose an arm, but Private Kung's death was one too many. And as for the rest of my unit that came out of that mess unscratched, it was only physical. In war, no one comes out without sometype of wound."

Jimmy looked down at the top of his shoes as the two of them kept walking towads the gigantic dog statue. "Hey, do you think... do you think something like that might happen to me and my friends?"

Shaojia looked at Jimmy briefly and looked back at the giant statue. He got down onto his knees and kowtowed like Jimmy had seen so many soldiers do to Shaojia. "Kai men," he whispered sadly. Somehow, the statue began to lift and revealed a room of grand proportions, perhaps the size of a standard school cafeteria. Shaojia walked up to a large wall scroll of a man and a woman, royalty by the looks of it, and kowtowed again. Jimmy was about to ask his question again when Shaojia stood up and said, "In war, there are no certainties. Next week, I could die, next week, you could die. We just have to take it as it goes and grow stronger." Then, Shaojia turned around. "Now, let's begin," he declared as the giant statue/door fell closed behind them.

* * *

Cindy yawned as her alarm clock when off indicating that it was 7:25. She looked around the room drowsily and noticed Jimmy was missing. She brushed the issue aside. "Probably got up a little earlier," she muttered as she hopped out of bed. As she went to go to the restroom to do her thing, she noticed a note attatched to the bathroom door. She yanked it out and through still sleepy eyes read: 

_Cindy,_

_I wanted to talk to Shaojia about something kind of important. Go ahead and have breakfast._

_Love,  
Jimmy_

She smiled as she read the last part. Though they had only proclaimed their love for each other roughly two days ago, she believed that Jimmy was 'The One' like she read in all her romantic novels. 'Well it's nice to believe,' she thought as she entered the bathroom.

* * *

Libby was in the meeting room in her military uniform eating her breakfast, a plate of bacon, eggs, and pancakes, while right next to her, her boyfriend Sheen was trying to beat Ibsol and Carl in a cereal eating contest. She rolled her eyes as she looked at Meiling who was also rolling her eyes as she took a bite of what she called a 'mantou,' a steamed bun filled with meat and sometimes eggs as she had explained. "I remember that when I was really little, my mama would make them every Chinese New Year," she had said a little sadly. 

Libby then turned her attention to the door as she took another bite out of her pancakes. It was 7:32 and Cindy hadn't come in yet nor had Jimmy or Shaojia. Libby turned to Meiling. "Hey, Meiling, where's Shaojia? Ain't he usually the first one here?"

Meiling swallowed the piece of mantou in her mouth and replied, "Oh, he left me a note saying that he had to address his troops."

Libby almost choked. "His troops?! You mean, like W-12 guys or what?"

"W-12 guys," Meiling repeated. "He also said that everyone will be getting an assistant officer to help them train."

"Good," Libby sighed, "because I am sick and tired of readin' that dang manual!"

Meiling giggled. "I would think so." Just as she was taking a sip of her hot tea as she had seen Shaojia do so many times before, Cindy walked into the room wearing her military uniform. Meiling recoiled at the taste of the tea. 'Ugh, awful!'

"Hi, Cind," Libby greeted before she turned back to her breakfast while Meiling tossed a simple wave. "Sleep good?"

Cindy nodded as she went to fetch her food from the Buddha. "Yeah," she simply replied. When she came to the table to sit down with her bowl of cereal, she asked, "Hey Libs, how was yesterday?"

Libby groaned as she recalled yesterday's events. "Oh God, it was so borin'! I thought my head was gonna' explode!" Libby ate the last of her bacon and asked Cindy, "Well, girl, don't hold out. What did you and the others do yesterday?"

Cindy shrugged as she took another bite out of her cereal. "Not much; Shaojia was at his base most of the day, but me, Jimmy and Meiling went shopping!"

Libby scooted over closer to Cindy excitedly and cheered, "Oh, do tell!"

As the others carried on with their conversations, Meiling, feeling a little sad that she had no one to talk to, decided to see what Shaojia was doing. As she stepped onto the elevator lift to take her down to the training room where she suspected Shaojia was, she wondered about all the time she had spent with him. She wondered about what Seamstress Tien had told her yesterday. (_...creating the clothing for you and His Imperial Majesty's children would be a great honor for me!)_ She groaned as she asked herself aloud, (Why do people keep saying stuff like that?) She sighed as she watched as the elevator continued its rapid descent. (What does it mean?)

Finally, the elevator came to a halt. When Meiling stepped out, she smiled at what she saw. There they were, nearly 3,000 W-12 soldiers, training vigorously and diligently to become more than ready for their next great battle. Upon seeing her, the guards on either side of the elevator exit, decked out in Imperial crimson robes with golden visors, kneeling kowtowed immediately. "Milady!" they both said in unison, their voices slightly muffled and static-y due to their helmets.

Meiling giggled and motioned for them to rise. "Come on guys, you don't have to do that for me!"

The two guards looked at each other through their visors and Meiling knew that they were nervous and scared of something... or rather someone. "Well, even if we didn't want to milady, wish we actually do, Emperor Wang would skin us alive if we were to disrespect you in such a way," squawked one of the guards.

Meiling sighed. "Don't worry, guys! Shaojia wouldn't do anything to you!"

The guards looked at each other and decided to end the conversation lest they accidentally insult the young mistress. "Nonetheless, milady, we shall continue to kowtow as a sign of deep respect to you, milady, as well as His Holiness, Emperor Wang," concluded the other guardsman.

As Meiling rolled her eyes and continued on her search for the boy/general, the other guard leaned towards the guard that had just recently spoken and whispered, "Nice save, Yao."

The other guard, Yao, merely nodded in recognition. Both guardsmen returned to attention immediately as their shifted and the next guard pair came to switch out.

* * *

Shaojia circled Jimmy, who had decided to take off his officer's jacket leaving him in just a muscle shirt, like a shark as Jimmy tried his best to maintain a perfect horse-riding stance: back straight, thighs parallel to the floor, and stance steady (i.e. not bobbing up and down and costantly being adjusted. So far, Jimmy's was rather poor: his back was completely hunched over, he was fidgeting in pain every five seconds, but at least his thighs were pretty close to the right position. "Try the best that you can for today; since this is your first lesson in anything like this, I'm cutting you quite a bit of slack. Just clear your mind and concentrate something other than the mind-crushing pain." 

Jimmy closed his eyes, half in pain and half in compliance with Shaojia's suggestion/order. He tried to think happy thoughts. 'Beakers, test tubes, Harvard, Yale, Goddard, agh! Um... honor rolls, NASA, ugh... too... much...pain! God, this hurts!' At that second, Jimmy collapsed onto his hands and knees, pain engulfing his lower body. He turned to Shaojia and asked, "How can you stand this?"

Shaojia shrugged as he helped Jimmy come up to his feet. "Eh, you get used to it after a while." Shaojia looked at the stop watch that was in his hand. 'Hm, he held the stance for thirty seconds. Not bad for the first try, although his stance was horrible.'

"How long is a while?" asked Jimmy as he tried to stretch out his legs without succumbing to the pain.

Shaojia shrugged again. "About a year or two." He ignord Jimmy's hysterical gaze as he used his doggy senses to activate his internal clock. '7:02,' he thought. He looked over to Jimmy who had apparently fallen down while trying to sooth the pain in his lower legs. "Alright, Jimmy," Shaojia started off. "Now that your legs are warmed up, let's work on your upper half." Jimmy looked at Shaojia in disbelief who just scoffed. "Ah, don't be such a baby. This one I'm sure even Carl could do it."

Jimmy reluctantly nodded and got up. "So, what do I have to do?"

Shaojia looked at Jimmy and said, "I saw this exercise when I was doing some undercover work in T-8. Basically, all you do is lie down on the ground like so," he got onto the ground in a prone position except that his head was propped up by his hands with his elbows pointing at the floor while his legs looked like they would as if he were doing push-ups, "and hold this for about thirty seconds or so." He got off the floor and looked at Jimmy. "Well, let''s see what you can do."

Jimmy sighed as he assumed the position Shaojia had just demonstrated while the young general started the stop watch again. At first, it seemed pretty easy. Then, after the ten second mark by Jimmy's count, the pain began to grow to excrutiating heights. Then began a very, very, very painful twenty seconds. Jimmy looked around the room for something to take his mind off of the pain accumulating around his abdomen, neck, and lower back. Around twenty seconds, Jimmy began to try thinking of happy thoughts again. 'Uh, ow, um... rockets, penicillin, polynomials, quantum physics, ugh, ow!'

Shaojia looked at the stop watch as Jimmy tried to maintain the stance. "Time," he said as he stopped the clock. It read, '30.25 seconds. Not bad' "See, I told you that you could do it."

At, 'Time,' Jimmy instantly collapsed to the floor in pain. "Ow," he managed to mutter. Slowly, he got up and began to stretch out his back. He cringed as he heard a few vertebrae pop back into place. "Are we going to have to do this everyday?"

Shaojia chuckled softly. "Well, how else do you expect to get any better? People just don't get prgrammed with new toys like computers do; they have to work at it."

Jimmy groaned as he rolled down another knot he found near his lower back. "Yeah, I guess so."

Shaojia went over to the nearest wall and picked up a portable, man-sized kicking bag and walked back over to Jimmy. "Alright, now let's get some real training done. Get into the mountain climbing stance I taught you, right foot forward." As Jimmy did do, Shaojia studied Jimmy's stance. Overall, it was perfect; front leg bent at the knee with the foot pointing sideways, back leg straight with foot turned 45 degrees inward, back straight, shoulders squared off so that he was looking directly ahead of him, and head facing forward. Then again, it was the easiest stance ever. "Alright, first we are going to teach you some basic kicks." Shaojia got in the same stance as him and continued, "First is the front kick or snap kick, either one's fine. The first step is to turn your front foot forward instead of turned to the side like so," Shoajia deomnstrated his words. "Then lift up your back knee," he moved forward slightly as he lifted his back leg up so that he was standing on one leg with his back leg now slightly in front of the original front leg, "and kick." Shaojia shot his leg straight out at amazing speed. Basically, the motion was like using your leg to push somehting away from you while still standing upright. After he kicked, he gently returned his kicking leg back to the single-legged position before eventually returning back to mountain climbing stance. "Alright, let's see how you do." Shaojia moved in front of Jimmy positioning the kicking bag right where the kick should be. After getting in a proper stance, he said to Jimmy, "On my count; 1!"

Jimmy tried his best to imitate Shaojia's moves. He turned his front foot forward, lifted his back leg, and kicked. He was surprised to see that his kick landed a satisfyingly loud, **_THUD!!!_** when it came into contact with the bag. 'This is easy," Jimmy thought aloud. Shaojia, who just barely heard the comment, merely smirked.

"2!" He kicked the bag again. "3!" He kicked it again. "4!" He kicked it again. "5!" He kicked it again. "6!" He kicked it again. "7!" He kicked it again. "8!" He kicked it again. "9!" His legs were starting to feel a little tired. By the time Shaojia had called out ten, Jimmy's leg was starting to get a bit sore. "Alright, that's enough." Shaojia stepped back with the bag and said, "Very good for your first time."

Jimmy nodded his thanks. "Thanks," he muttered. "So, uh, what next?"

Shaojia smirked. "Next? Next, you get to do the same thing again with your other leg." Jimmy groaned

* * *

Meiling arrived in front of the giant dog statue in fornt of Shaojia's personal training grounds. Unfortunately, it was closed and the only way to open it was to say a voice-sensitive passcode. Meiling walked up to the giant statue and knocked on it gently. There was no response. She was about to knock a little louder when she heard the door hiss slightly. Then, the door slowly opened to reveal Shaojia standing in front of the doorway looking at her. "Zao shang hao, Meiling-mei," he said as he looked over his shoulder towards Jimmy who was doing the roundhouse kicks Meiling sometimes sees Shaojia's beginner level students do at competitions and exhibitions. 

"Zao shang hao," Meiling greeted before asking, "What's Jimmy doing?"

Shaojia looked over at him and snorted. "Eh, around last night he asked me to teach him Kung Fu, so here I am. Oh, by the way, how did you know I would be here?"

Meiling giggled as she looked over at Shaojia. "Well you're always out here at this time of day."

Shaojia smiled slightly and walked toward Meiling. "Which reminds me; have you been practicing any of _your _forms?"

Meiling smiled brightly and nodded as vigorously as a bobblehead on a monster truck's dashboard while the truck was driving over a bunch of pointy rocks. "Yep!"

Shaojia nodded and walked over to Jimmy who was sweating profusely from the work-out. "Hey, Jimmy, why don't you go ahead and take a break, huh?" Despite his normally stubborn nature, Jimmy nodded gratefully for the chance to relax his aching limbs and keep himself from dying from dehydration with about three buckets worth a water and hastily scampered out of the room. After all, 30 minutes of Shaolin training would knock the wind out of anybody.

As he walked out of the room, he looked on in amazement at the countless number of soldiers in the room. To his left, he saw soldiers scale over an obstacle course he never noticed before. To his right were some bamboo poles which soldiers were using the tops as a type of staircase up to an elevated arena area about 20 ft. above the ground. In the arena, he saw some soldiers sparring.

"Wow," Jimmy muttered as he continued walking. "This army is extrodrinary! Why, it might be able to beat even Napoleon's army!"

Then, Jimmy saw soldiers near the track crowding around something. He decided to see what was going on. Pushing his way past several soldiers, he saw that two soldiers were on the ground, kicking and punching at each other. Jimmy turned to the nearest soldier, who appeared to be about two years older than him, and asked, "Hey, what's going on?"

The soldier, a private telling from the rank insignia, answered without even looking at Jimmy, "I dunno'," the soldier said in a kind of Southern drawl. "Sun and Yu are probably just at it again. Them guys fights nearly every damn day that ends in a 'y.'" Then, the soldier turned around and was surprised to see Jimmy standing there. "Ah, General Neutron, sir! What a nice surprise!"

Jimmy cracked a semi-nervous smile and muttered, "Yeah, that's me." Then he turned his attention back to the fighting soldiers and asked the soldier, "So, those two do this everyday?"

"Yes, sir," the soldier answered nervously.

"But why isn't anyone doing anything about it, then?" Jimmy asked as one of the fighting soldiers jabbed the other one hard in the chest.

"Well, sir," the soldier began, "everyone's just plum tired of pullin' 'em apart, so now we just let 'em go ahead and knock each other 'round... sir."

Jimmy laughed dryly at the rather unnecessary 'sir' that was added. "Well, aren't there any high-ranking officer here?"

"With the exception of you, sir," the soldier began again, "not really. The highest ranking soldier in our platoon is a Staff Seargent since our Luitenant is still out with the flu, sir. Nasty thing to catch in our universe, sir, what with us not havin' them fancy vaccines in our universe, so, even with the medical know-how in our army, we's still gots it bad."

Jimmy sighed as he watched the two soldiers try to strangle each other. "Well, where is this Staff Sergeant?"

The soldier sighed and pointed at one of the combatants, a muscular, 16-year old man with a bit of a mustache. "That's him, sir."

Jimmy looked at the soldier incredulously. "Are you serious?" The soldier nodded. Jimmy sighed as he looked at the soldiers, one of them the commanding officer of the platoon, the other another 16-year old with a 'corporal' insignia on his uniform, both soldiers slightly bloody from the fighting. "Alright, break it up," Jimmy said in a normal voice. The two soldiers didn't stop fighting. "I said enough!" The soldiers still didn't stop. "Enough," Jimmy yelled at the two. They still continued their relentless onslaught on one another.

Next to Jimmy, the soldier he was talking to his fellow soldiers, "Hey guys, let's give our new general a hand, huh?" The other soldiers nodded as they passed the word along to the remaining 36 soldiers in the platoon. Once the soldier was sure that the other soldiers had gotten the hint, he said to Jimmy, "Sir, would you like for the rest of us to give y'alls a hand?"

Jimmy looked at the soldier in confusion and then looked at the rest of the soldiers, all of whom were starting to surround the fighting soldiers in a tight circle. Jimmy nodded. "That'd be a lot of help, thanks."

At Jimmy's words, he had unknowingly become the catalyst to the order for 8 of the soldiers to charge the fighters and held them down to the ground. "Wha- let me go!" snarled the sergeant venomously. "This is mutiny! I'll have all of ya' killed for this!"

Jimmy walked up to the sergeant and said, "Sorry, _Sarge_. As General of N-12, I hereby put you and your friend over there under," Jimmy looked at the soldier that had just helped him and asked him something before turning back to the two detained combatants, "military arrest until a higher ranking officer can decide what to do with you." He smiled inwardly in satisfaction that he was able to stand up to someone like this seargent and give them orders. 'It feels good to be king!' he thought.

The seargent looked at Jimmy incredulously from his current position on the ground while the other combatant turned his head to the side in sullen acceptance of his sentence. "You can't do that! You're not from my universe!There's no way in all the hells that you're the boss of me!"

"Yes he is, and so am _I_," growled a voice from behind Jimmy which recognized. He turned around to see all of the soldiers saluting the General Tian person from earlier who was followed by two of the crimson-robed soldiers. "General Neutron, sir, may I ask on what charges these men are to be arrested upon other than disrespecting a higher ranking official who is also a Chosen Warrior of the Gods?"

"Fighting," Jimmy answered. "According to the other soldiers, they have been fighting like this almost everyday."

General Tian nodded and motioned for the soldiers to pull the men onto their feet. "Yes, I have heard rumors in the mess hall about this but I merely assumed it was simple mess talk. However, since this has now been brought into my immediate attention, I hereby sentence both of you to 1 week in The Fields." Their was a horrendous and low gasp to escape the crowd around them as the two guilty parties looked at the general in horrified disbelief.

Jimmy leaned over towards the soldier that he had been talking with the whole time and asked, "What's 'The Field?'"

The soldier whispered back, "It's a punishment for unruly soldiers like them two, sir. First, ya' have to run twenty laps 'round the track. Then, they let you take a drink o' water from the waterin' hole all the way across from the startin' part of the track so ya have to run anotha' half a' lap. Then, you gotta do 200 jumpin' jacks and you have to do it under a minute or they make you start over all the way back at the track. If you can actually make it passed the jumpin' jacks, you got ten more laps and then you're free for the day and are sent back to your room like a prisoner."

"Who came up with this rule?" Jimmy asked, wide-eyed at the exhausting work-out that awaited the two unruly soldiers, now feeling a little sorry for them.

The soldier shrugged. "I dunno, sir. When I got here, the rule had already been established. From what I heard, sir, the thang was started by some Jappy about some fourty years ago."

Jimmy nodded dumbly as he saw General Tian continue chewing out the two soldiers. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves for even fighting in this grand military order," General Tian spat. He turned to the two crimson-robed guards that followed him. "Guards, take them away!" The guards nodded and took out handcuffs from under their robes.

As the guards led the two detained soldiers to the elevators at gun point, General Tian turned to Jimmy. "My apologies that this had to be your first real impression of W-12 soldiers, sir," the general said, adding the honorific 'sir' as a courtesy gesture Jimmy realised. "I assure you that all of the other soldiers are among the most well-behaved, most skilled, and most courageous individuals in all the universes."

Jimmy cracked a friendly smile and replied, "It's alright. Uh, Shaojia, I mean, General Wang, has talked about his soldiers in high regards. I'm sure that those two were the only bad seeds around here." At his careful choice of words, General Tian seemed to relax at least a little. Presumably, the general wanted to make a good impression on Jimmy, the 'Chosen Warrior' of a newly discovered universe. "In fact, I already saw some of the good ones." He looked around for the soldier that he had talked to the entire time and found him talking to some of his fellow soldiers. "In fact," he said while motioning in the soldier's general direction, "those were the ones that helped me detain those unruly soldiers."

General Tian nodded and looked at the soldier Jimmy was pointing at. He grunted his approval. Then he turned his attention back to Jimmy. "Well, sir, I'm sure you have a very important agenda to attend to."

Jimmy nodded and left for the watering hole. As he left the area and headed for the neares watering hole, probably a good twenty yards away, he looked at his watch to see how much time he had wasted. It was 7:49. Jimmy's eyes widened in shock as he double timed it to the watering hole. After guzzling down a few buckets worth of refreshing water, he began the long walk back to the training area.

When he finally got there, about five minutes later, he saw Meiling shooting swift roundhouse kicks at Shaojia who dodged each and every one of them. Meiling aimed a kick at Shaojia who blocked it with the palm of his hand. See what appeared to be a valid oppurtunity, Meiling shifted her footing slightly and kicked out again with the same foot at Shaojia's currently vulnerable head.

Shaojia's eyes widened in surprise slightly as he did a Matrix-style back bend and watched the kick fly over his head. Meilin ghad underestimated the power in her kick which caused her to be off balanced when her foot sailed over Shaojia, landing her in a semi-splits position. Jimmy continued to look on in awe as Meiling popped up from her current position into a spinning position in the air. Once she started to descend she used her momentum to try and land another roundhouse kick on Shaojia who stepped to the side slightly and watched the foot fly past him. Taking the offensive, Shaojia shot out his own kick, a side kick, once Meiling stopped spinning, directed at her chin. Meiling looked at his foot as it stopped right in front of her face. Shaojia lowered his foot and nodded, and the two bowed to each other. Shaoia looked at Jimmy and Mieiling as he spoke. "Speed and power is good, but so is accuracy. If you can't even hit your opponent, than what's the point?" He turned to Meiling. "Meiling, you're getting better. Pretty soon, you can help me kick some of my students into shape." Meiling smiled and giggled. He then turned to Jimmy. "What took you so long?"

"Ah, just had to help sort out a problem over near the track. Two soldiers were fighting and I had to help out General Tian," Jimmy replied proudly. His first act of true military authority felt pretty good, especially when it came to keeping the peace.

Shaojia nodded as he walked over closer to Jimmy. "That's good to know; idiocy and military never mix." Jimmy nodded in agreement. "Hey, what time is it?"

Jimmy looked at his watch again. "Uh, 7:54."

Shaojia sighed as he picked up the files he had laid down near the wall scroll and started to walk out the door. "Jimmy, I think we're gonna' have to cut today's lesson short. We have to get to the mess hall before any of your guys start coming down here and we have a ruckus or something. Don't ask how, because somehow it will." Then suddenly, he turned around to look at Jimmy while Meiling walked up to his side. "Then again, I think you can probably handle it while I brief my own troops, can't you?"

Jimmy looked at Shaojia in confusion who looked back in examination. "Are you serious?" Shaojia merely nodded. "Well, I guess... sure!" Jimmy smiled as he began to run out of the room and towards the elevators.

Meiling looked up to Shaojia and asked, "How good of a leader do you think he'll be?"

"If he can stay as positive as he is now," Shaojia said without looking at her, "he'll be a damn good one."

* * *

Cindy walked down the hall leading from the elevators to the balcony overseeing the mess hall followed by Sheen and Libby. Carl and Ibsol had already gone off to the Communications Station. As she and the others neared the door that would lead out to the overseeing balcony, the faint **_DING_** of an elevator stopping on the floor was heard behind them. Cindy turned to see Jimmy jogging over to them, his military jacket unbuttoned, his skin practically drenched in sweat, and his ridiculous hair drooping slightly which made him look kind of like those people in the shampoo commercials... kind of. It was probably Cindy's imagination which was interrupted when Libby jabbed her lightly in the ribs with her elbow to wake her out of la-la land. Jimmy came to a slow walk when he was close and eventually a panting halt. He looked at his friends and asked, "Hey, are the soldiers still in the mess?" he asked, starting to get used to military lingo. 

Cindy shrugged. "I dunno, we were just about to go see them ourselves."

Jimmy nodded as he straightened up a little. "Alright then. Let's go." He started to walk over to the door, his speed slightly increasing.

Cindy walked over to Jimmy and asked him as she walked beside him, "What's the rush, Neutron?" she asked, using her least offensive nickname from the old days in order to try and keep the facade that the two were in love a secret fro, the others even though half of her knew that it was pointless.

Jimmy saw through the facade and answered, "Simple, Vortex; some of Shaojia's soldiers are onboard this ship and I want to tell our soldiers what they have to expect before we let them join up with Shaojia's soldiers."

"'Join up with Shaojia's soldiers?'" Libby quoted as she and Sheen followed the two.

Jimmy nodded as he tried to get more air into his over-worked lungs. "Yeah; I'm sure that Shaojia's probably thinking along the same lines as me and I think that our soldiers aren't going to be trained well enough or fast enough if they don't interact with better trained soldiers and what better soldiers do we have than the one's onboard?"

Cindy nodded her approval as she pressed the button that opened the door to the balcony. As the quarry walked over onto the balcony, they all looked at their soldiers chatting lightly while a small few still ate in the small piece of cafeteria that the 'army' took up compared to the entire cafeteria itself, about 10 football fields long and 5 wide. She had never truly noticed the awesome size of the vessle until now, until it had come to her attention that they were to have other soldiers, probably hundreds, maybe thousands, onboard the ship they were on.

* * *

**(Go to v i c t o r y a t s e a o n l i n e . c o m/w a r/p e a r l . h t m l and click on either 'Pearl Harbor-MP3' or 'Pearl Harbor-MIDI.' Either one's fine, but the mp3 version is far better sounding.)**

* * *

Jimmy started to button up his military jacket a bit as well as try and fix his hair while he walked up to the podium that oversaw the entire room. He keyed the microphone, the annoying feedback that sometimes accompanied it silencing all other noise in the room. "Eh heh, uh good morning, ladies and gentlemen," he started awkawardly. "Uh, as you all may or may not know, we are proabably going to be facing impossible odds in the upcoming conflict with the Yolkians... It won't be like our first time; they are ready for us now. Their army is ready to stop us if needed." He decided to let the information sink in a bit before continuing. "We... we need help. We all know that Shaojia is an Enforcer from W-12, right?" There were a few murmurs of confirmation. "Right, well, he is actually the Grand General of his universe, like I am of ours. And as Grand Generals, Shaojia and I have discussed this problem and because of our findings, we have concluded that the only option is to go to war with the Yolkians." There was an uproar of disapproval. At age 12 and some higher, they all had at least a basic knowledge of the horrors of war. "Now, calm down, calm down. There's-" he could barely hear himself through the protestant yelling. 

"Quiet!" yelled a familiar voice. Everyone looked over at Nick, who stood on a table in his army slacks and a plain white T-shirt with his jacket over his shoulder like some biker from the '70's. "Now listen up! _General_ Neutron is right! We want our parent's back, right? Well the Yolkians aren't going to give them back, so we'll just have to make them! And if we have to turn them to goo, then we will!"

"Yeah!" cheered all the soldiers in the room.

Nick looked over to Jimmy on the balcony. "The floor's yours, sir!"

Jimmy nodded his gratitude and continued his speech feeling a lot more confident and assertive. "As I was saying, we will be going to war and we will need help. Shao- General Wang..." Jimmy corrected himself. No more time for familiarities. "General Wang has brought over his entire army into our universe and on this ship alone there are 3,000 of probably the best soldiers I have ever seen. And most of them are our age... And so... you will be assigned to a group of soldiers that will train you in the art of war and make you strong so that we can fight for our people and get back our parents!" Unlike the first half of his speech, his ending was met with an entire standing ovation, complete with approving hollers, thunderous applause, and victorious hoots. Jimmy lifted his fist in the air in a victory pose and shouted, "For N-12!"

"FOR N-12!!!"

* * *

Shaojia and Meiling walked over to General Tian who was overseeing the soldiers running around the track. "General," Shaojia said as he neared Tian's position. "Rally the troops. I have an important announcement for them." 

General Tian saluted sharply and shouted, "Alright, men, get back into your lines everyone, let's go!" In a few seconds, the long lines of soldiers started to form once more, the high-ranking officers falling in line along side Shaojia and Tian. "Sir, they're all yours."

Shaojia nodded as He stepped up in front of all the other officers. He looked into the eyes of every soldier in the room. "Men, I've already told you this already this morning. Soon, we will have about 160 Green Horns on our hands, new recruits with less than a week of training. I want all of you to break off into squad training only, but I want at least one of your squadmates to keep their helmets on. We will be assigning you your new squadmates today. Time is of the essence. Any day now, the Yolkians, our main threats, can choose to execute all of the parents of these new soldiers. And we can't have that. These... these kids... they have no idea what hard lives truly are, put them in our lifestyles, on farms, in the middle of warring armies, without a TV or videogames... they wouldn't last a single day, let alone a lifetime. But nonetheless, we will fight proudly alongside our new comrades, and we will defeat this menace." Shaojia paused to let all of the information sink in. "Well, what are you waiting for, get moving! Get into your squads and pick a training station! Go, go, go!" At his command, all of the soldiers scrambled, all gathering into the standard W-12 squad model, a group of 4 soldiers. Shaojia turned to Tian and ordered, "Colonel Yang, I want you to get me one of the five batallion radios. It doesn't matter which one, as long as it works so we can assign soldiers to our squads." The colonel saluted and ran out turned to a lower ranking officer to relay the order.

As the two walked away from the other high-ranking officers, Meiling commented to Shaojia, "Wow, you really got them on their toes, huh?"

Shaojia nodded as he looked towards the elevators. "Soldiers or not, by most universes' standards, they're all still kids and most of them are starting to get their rebellious streak from only the gods know where. I'm fine with that as long as they don't start acting like idiots."

Meiling smiled as she replied, "See, you would make a great leader! I mean, look at Jimmy; he comes from this peaceful universe and doesn't know a thing about fighting and now, he's giving orders and taking charge!"

Shaojia grunted. "That's because I have enough on my mind than to worry about keeping a bunch of kids like him and his soldiers alive."

"Why is it so important?" Meiling asked. "I mean, you always try to keep the people who you fight alongside with alive, but you never showed so much... enthusiasm about it."

"It's the gods..." Shaojia paused a moment. "Something's... wrong. At the beginning of all this, I was in the Council Chambers speaking with The Jade Emperor, and He told me Himself that these guys must stay alive at all costs. Not a single one of these kids can die and I don't know why."

"What about their parents?"

Shaojia stayed silent. He just watched three lifts filled with N-12 soldiers come to a halt. He moved to greet them. "Boys and girls, welcome to the big time. Now, I don't know if General Neutron said anything about this, but I will be assigning you to one of the hundreds of squads here. Now, as soon as we get our regiment radio, we'll begin, but first, will those in the Scouts please step to the side?" He looked around as more N-12 soldiers started to file in. 'Now where in the hells is Jimmy?'

* * *

Cindy smiled in proud recognition as she walked beside Jimmy while Libby and Sheen walked in front of them. "Great job on the speech, there, Jimmy," she whispered. 

Jimmy smiled slightly. "You think so?" He looked back over to the doorway that led to the balcony over the mess hall. "I mean, Nick really-"

Cindy interrupted him. "Nick did jack! All he did was get those idiots to shut up so you could get your two cents in! You gave the speech!"

Jimmy smiled and looked at Cindy. Just as he was about to thank her, Libby interrupted. "Come on, love birds, we ain't got all day!"

Jimmy frowned and his mind snapped back on the de feacto personality he and Cindy silently agreed keeping. "Yeah, Vortex, we have an army to manage here, let's go!"

Cindy scowled, also assuming her old personality. "Well, _General_, I would be moving faster if that head of yours wasn't holding me back, what with it having its own gravitational pull!"

Jimmy scowled back. 'Oh, she's good...' Before he could get in the last word, a voice on the intercom system was heard. It was Carl's. "Okay, so what did you want?"

Another voice came onto the intercom. This time, it was Ibsol's. "Carl, I think you keyed the inter-communications system!"

"Oops!"

Then, another voice, this one unfamiliar, said in irritation, "Can someone just please tell me where the radio is?!" The sound of an intercom system being deactivated was heard.

Jimmy and the others looked at each other in confusion as they reached the elevators. "That was weird," he commented as he pressed the button that would send for an elevator lift.

The others merely nodded. Then, the lift that they were waiting for came down from above with a soldier on it, a W-12 soldier. Jimmy looked at the insignia in the soldier's shoulder; it was a golden image of a Chinese phoenix. Jimmy assumed that the soldier was a colonel. Under the soldier's left arm was a large box-shaped device with buttons that made it look like a radio of some sort. The soldier looked at Jimmy and saluted. "General Neutron, sir!" he shouted. Jimmy and the others instantly recognized

Seeing that he had yet to lower his salute, Jimmy tried one of Shaojia's military phrases, "Uh, at ease, solider." The soldier complied. Jimmy looked over at Cindy, Libby, and Sheen and they all shrugged. 'Must be a soldier thing,' Jimmy thought. Jimmy stepped onto the lift followed by his friends. Jimmy pointed to the radio-like object under the soldier's arm. "Hey, what's that?"

The soldier patted the side of the object. "Sir, this is a Mark V W-12 Batallion radio with a signal range of over 4,000 miles. General Wang wanted me to fetch this thing so we can start assigning your soldeirs to this regiment's squads for training, sir."

Jimmy leaned over to Cindy and whispered, "Looks like Shaojia and I _are _thinking on the same page." Cindy just rolled her eyes.

Libby then asked the soldier, "Hey, excuse me, uh..."

"Yang, Colonel Yang," the soldier finished for her.

Libby smiled a bit, which in turn made Sheen move a little closer to her protectively. "Well, Colonel, where is this lift going?"

"Down to the training area, why?" Colonel Yang asked.

Libby stepped off the lift and replied, "I need to go up to the bridge. I guess I'll wait for the next one."

Sheen nodded as he stepped off as well. He faked a yawn and put his arms around Libby. "Yeah, you guys go ahead, I think I'll wait up here with my girl, ain't that right, Libby-buns?"

Libby smiled and grabbed onto Sheen's arm and continued to smile as she twisted it slightly. "I'm'a hurt you," she said as the lift containing Jimmy, Cindy, and Yang descended on the lift.

* * *

Shaojia had lost patience with waiting for the radio and started calling for the nearest squads to come over for recruit assignment and ordered all other able-bodied officers to do the same, includiing, although reluctantly for Shaojia, Meiling which meant that four people, including himself, were doing the assigning. He said to one of the N-12 'soldiers', a skinny brunnete, "Alright, soldier, you'll be assigned to Sergeant Yung's squad here." He pointed to the soldier that stood next to him, who was at least a foot taller and three years older than Shaojia. 

The sergeant saluted and lead the soldier to his squad which was waiting at the punching bags. "So, kid, you have a name?" Shaojia heard as the two walked off.

As Shaojia was about to assign another soldier to another squad leader, he noticed another lift start to come down, and on it was Jimmy, Cindy, and Colonel Yang. "Finally," Shaojia exhaled as the trio made their way over to him. "What took you so long?" he asked, looking at Colonel Yang.

Yang gulped nervusly and said, "Well, sir, I uh, there was a problem in the Communications Room with the N-12 staff, and our men already stationed there, but I managed to settle it." He then remembered the radio and handed it to Shaojia. "Oh, right, here you go sir, a MK V battalion radio."

Shaojia nodded and took the radio from the nervous Colonel. "Good. Go to the watering hole and get yourself some water before you dehydrate yourself before you sweat yourself to death. You look like you just ran a marathon! At this rate, you'll look older than some of our retired veterans, so calm down; that's an order." Yang nodded slowly and walked as calmly as he could towards the watering hole. Shaojia merely nodded a brief greeting to Jimmy and Cindy as he went to work on setting up the radio. "Hey, Jimmy, I thought it was a good idea to-"

"-assign my soldiers to your squads?" Jimmy finished for him. "Yeah, I said that at the rally and Colonel Yang told me your plan when we met him at the lift."

Shaojia nodded as he flicked a red switch on the radio. He picked up the radio's speaker and said into it, "Squad... 9-12-27, please send someone to report to the assignment area, ASAP." He then looked over his shoulder and said to Jimmy, "Well it's a good thing that we're thinking on the same page. I don't like tooting my own horn, but as I am reminded everyday I am in my military uniform, I am a highly decorated military officer and for you to think the same way as me, that's a good sign that your up there." Jimmy smiled proudly as Cindy rolled her eyes, half-playfully, half-normally. Shaojia then stood up and yelled, "Alright, Tian, Meiling, Hong, we have the radio. Finsh your current assignment, report here, and grab a radio." As they all came in he said to Meiling, "Meiling, you can go ahead and go now."

"But Shaojia," Meiling complained as Jimmy and Cindy watched in amusement. "I wanna' help!"

Shaojia rolled his eyes and said, "You helped enough. You're not a soldier Meiling, you have better things to do with your life, trust me. Why don't you go practice your forms?" Meiling sighed dejectedly as she went off to Shaojia's training area.

Jimmy walked up to Shaojia followed closely by Cindy. "Well, we're soldiers, Shaojia, so what do you want us to do?" Jimmy looked over at the rest of his N-12 soldiers--God he loved saying that--and quickly counted that there were 95 soldiers left. "There are 95 soldiers left to assign."

Shaojia nodded as he assigned the N-12 soldier next to him to the 4-12-27 squad member he called for. "Well, these are your soldiers, so you can if you want to, but you might also want to get to work on yourself. Skill on the battlefield almost never comes in miracle-form, you have to work for it."

Jimmy nodded as he looked over to Cindy. "Hey Cindy, want to go work on the punching bags?"

Cindy nodded. "Sure, but only if you promise not to whine when I punch harder than you!" she teased as she raced off towards an unoccupied punching station.

Jimmy smiled in spite of himself as he ran after her, "Now that was just low!"

Shaojia smiled as he flicked another switch. "Ah, to be so young, so naive, so innocent..." He picked up the radio speaker again. "Squad 5-19-40, send one of your boys to the assignment area, ASAP."

* * *

Cindy occasionally shot glances at Jimmy as she ate the curly fries she ordered with her burger. As crazy as it may seem, their little punching bag exercise felt like a bit of a date. It could also be the fact that Jimmy's speech really was an adrenaline booster, despite Nick's aid. Then again, there was also the fact that the two of them were getting into their teenage years and with that came and entirely new mentallity... And with the upcoming war, there were more unforseen factors... Cindy shook her head causing Jimmy to look at her curiously. "You alright, Cindy?" 

Cindy nodded. "Yeah, I was just, well, you know, thinking, about the war... our parents, you know us in general..." She sighed as she ate her last fry. "I mean, what's gonna' happen; we might not be on time to save our parents and-"

"-And nothing! Cindy, we are going to get through this! I promise you! We have an awesome army at our hands right now, and an even greater army backing us up against a bunch of egg-headed freaks! We will get through this!" Jimmy roared. A few tables near them looked at the two curiously but went back to their lunches and conversations.

Cindy nodded. "Yeah, I guess I was just being silly." She smiled at Jimmy and he returned it.

Just as Jimmy was about to reply, he noticed Sheen and Libby coming their way, arguing about, something..."For the last time, Sheen, I wasn't flirting with that guy!" Jimmy heard Libby scream at Sheen as she stomped towards the lunch line, quickly followed by Sheen.

"I saw what I saw, Libs, and I saw what you saw... doing... sawing... do-saw... Yes you were!" Sheen yelled after her.

Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other and shrugged. They then saw two more people come towards them with their plates of food, Carl and Ibsol. "Hey, Jim," Carl greeted as he and Ibsol sat down with their lunches. "So... how's the army?"

Jimmy sighed as he took the last bite out of his burger. "Ugh, out of the 158 soldiers in the army, there are only 30 I think would survive a battle, and only two that could survive the whole war! I just hope they can get better."

Cindy scoffed. "Don't be so hard on them; they're only recruits."

Then, in the distance, they all heard Shaojia's voice mutter, "I'm telling you Meiling, out of the 158 soliders in that 'army,' I'd say only 10 would survive the first land battle and only two of them will survive the war!" They all looked over to where the voice was coming from to see Shaojia place an empty rice bowl into the dish receptacle while Meiling continued to eat her bowl of rice congee.

Jimmy looked over at Cindy and tapped the side of his head with his finger. "Same page," he stated as he noticed Shaojia lay down the files from earlier that morning onto the table as Meiling sat next to him.

Shaojia opened the files before pushing them towards Jimmy. "Jimmy, as you know, I don't understand a lot of technical mumo-jumbo, so can you please translate this?"

Jimmy nodded as he took out the piece of paper that held the schematics of Yolkian armor which looked similar to the one Ibsol currently wore. Ibsol looked at the schematics in surprise. "That'a a _Nokilawa Tay Guk_! A standard piece of Yolkian military equipment! How ever did you get the schmematics for it!"

"We picked up a few samples from that raid Cindy, Jimmy, and I went on two days ago," Shaojia explained as he took the schematics out of Ibsol's mechanical hands and turned it this way and that trying to decipher it. "So, what exactly are we looking at, Jimmy?"

Jimmy took the schematics from Shaojia and laid them down onto the table. He pointed to the main body of the Yolkian battle suit. "Alright, according to Goddard's analysis, the biggest flaw in the suit's design is the face visor which can hold up to only one pound of direct pressure."

"I'm afraid he's right," Ibsol confirmed as he looked down at his food shamefully. "The materials that are available in my people's star system is so limited that our structures can collapse if one of us accidentally runs into it for whatever reason."

Jimmy nodded as he continued to examine the schematics. "So that meas that it's also true that the main chasis is only slightly stronger?" Ibsol nodded. "Then how can your staffs manage to withstand attacks?"

"Well, those were all purchased, for a relatively small price per unit, from a star system very far away," Ibsol explained. "We tried melting some of the staffs in order to acquire better armor, but the armor and the repulsor lifts that allow us to move would not cooperate for one reason or another. In fact, it once led to a horrendous biochemical reaction that decimated an entire city. Very sad indeed."

Shaojia nodded. He looked at Jimmy and asked, "Does that mean we have ourselves the key componets for an atomic weapon?"

Jimmy nodded thoughtfully until Ibsol intervened. "A weapon? Even if I could morally condone, there is no way to construct it without risking the lives of everyone working on it!"

"Well," Shaojia started, "seeing as this is the life of your people, but mainly the lives of your ex-comrades, will you allow us to start the construction of these atomic weapons?"

Ibsol uttered a sad sigh as he shoved his plate of gooey slop aside. "Only if it it used as an absolute last resort and only if you and General Neutron both agree that you will not use it on civillian lives in order to prove a point."

Shaojia scoffed. "As if I would lower myself to killing non-combatants. That's as dishonoarble as killing a newborn baby. I agree to both terms; innocent lives should not be lost in this war, Yolkian or otherwise."

Jimmy nodded as well. "I agree too, but how will we even develop those weapons?"

"Well," Shaojia started, "the Enforcer program was started by the gods right after the American Civil War occured in most of the universes with an America established. They predicted that with this new rise in violence over politics, that the very fabric of morality in those universes may very well crumble and destroy the universes. So then the Enforcers were born. However, they only saw action in universes that had already made contact with alien life in the 20th Century, and that meant that World War I and World War II were completely neglected except for one key event; the American bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. That was when all universes that were up to speed with technology began to produce nuclear weapons."

"You mean the Cold War?" Cindy asked.

Shaojia nodded. "After that, the Enforcer labs began to work on these weapons themselves, hoping to keep the peace with these weapons along with their heavenly support. And every it had to be used, it always worked. Enemies surrendered by the hundreds at the threat of nuclear war with the gods themselves. Anyways, the labs that were used to make those old nukes are still around and are used for testing on new Enforcer weaponry. And the best thing is that it became fully automated in the 1970's thanks to the civil war in S-1."

Jimmy now understood Shaojia's plan. "So you're saying thatyou plan on having the automated Enforcer labs work on these bombs while we fight the real war and hope to have the weapons ready by the time we fought our way towards the Yolkian capitol and threaten it with the bomb?"

Shaojia shook his head. "Actually, I didn't really think that far ahead. I was only planning on using them in space combat as our new torpedoes. But your plan is good too, except for one fatal flaw..."

"Our parents would still be in the city when we threaten it," Cindy explained to everyone even though most of them already figured it out. "So that means that the bombs will be useless for that."

"But guys," Carl said, trying to find someway to not feel left out of the conversation. "What if we send in the Super Dooper-"

"No, Carl, the Super Dooper Llama Squad can't liberate our parents from the Yolkians so we can threaten the city then," Jimmy said exhasperatedly.

"They can too!" Carl protested.

Jimmy sighed as he rubbed his temples in exhaustion. "Hey, is it alright if we talk about this later, like tomorrow?"

Shaojia nodded as he got up fromt he table with the files. "For you guys sure, but I'll have to talk about this later tonight with my generals and admirals at 11 and I want you to be there as well, Jimmy."

Jimmy nodded as he got up from the table followed by Cindy. "Hey can someone please fill Sheen and Libby on this?"

Shaojia shook his head. "No need. Those two already have enough problems right now as I can see." He looked over to where the couple were still arguing as they came back to the table to finally eat. "And hear," Shaojia bemusedly added. Everyone left the table to spend the 45 minutes of break they had left as Libby and Sheen argued as they ate.

* * *

Cindy and Jimmy waited on patiently as they rode the elevator leading down to the recreation room. As the lift came to a halt, the two stepped off of it, continuing their conversation. "-but in either case, I still think that Sheen was a little bit unreasonable," Cindy said as she stepped off of the lift. 

Jimmy nodded as he followed her. "And I didn't argue with you on that one!"

Cindy scoffed as the two came upon the main room of the rec room and saw it to be completely empty which would be expected considering that they finished very early at five minutes into their lunch. They would have been there earlier if it hadn't been for the discussion about the Yolkian armor and the war plan. "Well, it looks like we're alone for now."

Jimmy nodded as he moved a little closer to Cindy. "Hey Cindy, after this war, would you consider, you know," he blushed as he struggled to find the right words, "I mean we haven't been spending enough time with each other as you know, a couple should I guess, uh..."

Cindy smiled as she moved closer to Jimmy and said, "James Neutron, you sly devil, are you trying to ask me out on a date?"

Jimmy smiled nervously. "Trying to," he nervosuly muttered as he looked down at his feet. "I mean, I know that now's not a good time to ask, but-

Cindy held up a hand as she turned to fully face Jimmy. "Jimmy, you talk way too much." She smiled softly and said, "I'd loved to, but let's not wait until after the war; how about tonight? A dinner alone in our room. Just the two of us, then some alone time back down here?"

"A real date, huh?" Jimmy commented.

Cindy smiled again. "I think it might be better than that time we were stuck on that island."

"So, uh, so ya' tonight?"

"You betcha'," Cindy said before leaving to find that Japanese sword-fighting game over by the skee-ball machines.

Jimmy sighed happily as he watched Cindy walk off. He had no idea what possessed him to make such a bold move but by God, he was happy he did. Then, from behind him, he heard a voice. "Great, now this mission has turned from _Saving Private Ryan_ to _An Officer and a Gentleman_."

Jimmy turned around in surprise to see Shaojia and Meiling stepping off of the lift. "A-Shaojia-ge, I think you've been watching too many American war movies," commented Meiling.

Shaojia shrugged. "What? Tom Hanks happens to be a pretty decent actor in my opinion." Meiling just rolled her eyes and went off to amuse herself in the game room. Shaojia walked up to Jimmy and said slyly, "So, you and Cindy made a little date for the afternoon, huh?"

Jimmy was cornered. Shaojia had obviously overheard every last syllable. "Well, yeah, but I don't see any problem about going on a date, given we are on a military vessle."

Shaojia just grunted and motioned Jimmy to follow him. "Your right; there's no problem about it, but you have to make sure that you don't get too distracted. Seperate your personal life and your military life. In the military, when you're on-duty, there's no time for emotions; anger leads to stupid decisions, fear leads to stupid decisions, love leads to stupid decisions, everything that makes you human, or in my case humane, can lead to stupid decisions."

"So what, am I going to have to drop any chance at all with Cindy for some stupid war?!" Jimmy retorted.

Shaojia sighed. "No, you just have to learn to keep them seperate, like uh, computer files; you know how some programs are kept in one place and some programs somewhere else. You just have to balance everything out like you do at school. Me, I've never been to school except for a handful of times where I had to go undercover in order to find some intel because the one's who are supposed to do it for me are completely worthless. But I hear that there's a lot of juggling around between home and school. Just think of it like that, Jimmy."

Jimmy nodded as he followed Shaojia to one of those first-person shooter arcade consoles. "What are we doing here?" Jimmy asked as he eyed the light guns and the console's screen.

Shaojia picked up one of the light guns and handed it to Jimmy, butt first. "Hey, even if it is your break, I highly reccomend getting some practice in. Balance, Jimmy, and this is the perfect one between fun and training." He waited for Jimmy to accept the light gun in his hand before drawing the other one. He pointed it at the screen and fired to start the game. "Truthly, I'd like to see how you'd do in a firefight. If Yolkians have guns, we'll need them; if they don't, it's still nice to have one handy just in case. I may not like guns, but they're useful for bailing you out of situations cold hard steel can't."

Jimmy nodded as Shaojia put back the gun. "What, you're not playing?"

Shaojia shook his head as he leaned on one of the nearby consoles. "Nah, like I said, I want to see how you do in armed combat."

Jimmy nodded as he chose the difficulty level, 'Authentic.'

* * *

Cindy sat in the room she and Jimmy shared. She had asked Shaojia to have some of his soldiers to move a small dining table for two into the room. There were lit candles, an endless menu, now all that was needed was for the boy genius to come into the room. He had decided to take a small shower to wash off the grime of the day's work. Cindy sat in a beautiful jade dress she had acquired from the hallyway wardrobe machine as she dubbed for lack of an actual name. 

Then, Jimmy came out of the bathroom dressed in his military uniform with a more formal air. He smiled as he sat down to enjoy the night with his girlfriend. "Well, uh, someone looks ready for a nice night," Jimmy stuttered.

Cindy smiled sweetly as she moved suavely over to the menu. "Uh, you too. So, what do you want to eat?" she cooed as the two prepared to enjoy the first and maybe last peaceful night of the war.

* * *

A rather tall figure in silky European robes walked down the catwalks leading to the bridge of the Yolkian ship _Poultra The Magnificent._ The figure was followed by another figure in a butler's outfit. When the two reached the bridge, they were greeted by two individuals, a short old man by the name of Finbarr Calamitous and a Yolkian whose attire matched that of European kings, King Goobot the Great. Calamitous greeted the figure beside the butler, "Ah, so Young Strych has awoken, now has he?" 

The boy, Eustace Strych III, merely scoffed. "Please, you old fool," Strych said in a distinctive English accent, "unlike you, I require my beauty sleep!"

"Beauty sleep!?" Calamitous roared back. "Well I apologize because it appears as if we interrupted you mid-way!"

"You ignorant, ungrateful little man! You should be more courteous seeing as I have supplied you with those speech-help tapes that allowed you to talk like a decent individual you bloody codger!"

Goobot levitated between the two arguing humans and shouted, "Enough! I will not allow this alliance to crumble until our nemesis is dead! So I suggest the two of you to be civilized for once!"

The two humans glared at the Yolkian until a Yolkian soldier rushed into the room holding a scroll. "Your Highness, a message!"

Goobot took the scroll from the messanger and set it on the table in the middle of the room. He ran his mechanical hand over the blank scroll, and, as if by magic, Yolkian heiroglyphics began to appear on the scroll. Goobot read the scroll carefully before balling i tup in anger and throwing it across the room. "Well," Strych asked. "what did it say, old chap?"

"'Contact with the vessel on Earth his been lost,'" the royal egg snarled out. "It seems as if Neutron is more clever than I thought!"

"He may be more clever of your men may just be incompetent," Strych spat. "Come on, Goobot, you have an entire army at your disposal against children!"

"If you had not noticed, boy, my soldiers are already engaged in a war themselves!"

"Then how about you just breed me a fleet of Yolktars and I will return with Neutron's head on a platter, you bloody twit!"

Goobot reeled back for a second, shocked at the human's cunning proposal. He then nodded as he turned to the messenger who 'stood' nearby, frozen with fright. "Messenger! Contact the Breeding Chambers and tell Ooblar that I require four ship crew's worth of Yolktarian warriors in two Earth hours." The messenger saluted as he turned to scurry out of the room. Goobot levitated towards Strych and snarled, "There, you have five Earth days to finish your mission. But, bring Neutron alive will you?"

Strych spat at Goobot's visor. "I shall do what I wish," he snarled back as he left the room followed by his butler, Hans.

Goobot hatefully wiped off the spit and flung it to the floor. Calamitous then walked up to the fuming Yolkian and muttered, "Rambunctous lad, isn't he?" Goobot merely glared at Strych's retreating form. "Can we trust him?"

Goobot smirked evilly. "No... but either way, one nuisance will die." He looked out the viewport of his flagship towards the sea of Yolkian battle cruisers floating in majestic supremacy as they attacked the Rebel Yolkian fleet.

* * *

**Afterthought:**

Author: Alright, readers, time for another...

All: **Afterthought!!!**

Author: Alright, guys what do you think?

Jimmy: (Shrugs) Ah, it was better than the last one.

Shaojia: Speaking of which, how's your hand?

Author: (Waves around hand which is encased in in a cast) Aside from the excrutiating pain, it's fine.

Carl: Well, (snorts nerdily) I think that the best part about this chapter was-

Everyone else: No llamas!

Carl: You're all mean! (Runs away... kinda')

Libby: (Hits Author all upside the head) And what's this about me and Sheen having a little lover's quarrel?!

Author: Ow! Well, uh-

Sheen: Yeah!

Author: Hey if you just-

Cindy: And what did I tell you the last time you tried to write fluff?

Author: You didn't-

(Shaojia bashes Author over the head with his wooden chair)

Shaojia: Jerry! Jerry! Jerry!

(Everyone looks at Shaojia)

Shaojia: What?

Cindy: You idiot! How's he gonna' do that Trivia thing now?

Author: (Bleeding from the head and lying on the ground) Well actually, I decided to just cancel it before it even got off the ground.

Jimmy: So that means that you shot yourself for-

Author: (Holds up another bear puppet) Don't say it! This isn't a puppet this time!

Jimmy: -for nothing...

(Author shoots the puppet... again... And he starts to swear... again...)

Jimmy: That _was_ another puppet, wasn't it?

Author: (CLutches bloody hand) Naw, puppets bleeeeeed!

Cindy: (Salutes to audience) Well, there's our wrap up of afterthought, will our heroes survive tomorrow's attack?

Jimmy: Who knows, but I think probably.

Shaojia: Until next time...

Hans the Butler: I sees noths-ing! I sees noths-ing!


	10. Battle of Earth

**Chapter 10:**

**Battle of Earth**

(Subtitles for Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'

_SOUND EFFECTS_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron.**

**

* * *

A/N: For simplicity's sake, all dialogue in Chinese is gisted at best from an internet dictionary. I was too lazy to ask my grandpa to proofread my pinyin. I do not highly suggest seriously studying any of the words below as Chinese. Words in pasts chapters however are correct. Also, the idea for the translation of the Chinese dialogue in subtitles in parenthases like in the movies is just a trial idea. If you don't like them, tell me.**

* * *

Jimmy struggled to stay awake as he drank out of what had to be his fifth cup of coffee, grimacing once more at the strong, bitter taste of the black liquid. After his little 'date' with Cindy, Shaojia had pulled him out of his room and into the meeting room where he was faced with 15 high-ranking military personnel, all under 16. And that's where he was now at 7 in the morning drinking out of a cup of stagnant, lukewarm coffee. Fortunately, they had taken a five minute intermission. He asked Shaojia, who was sitting next to him examining some techincal files of the Yolkian battle armor, "Hey, when is this meeting over?" 

Shaojia answered without looking away from the files, "Right after this break. We've already gone over our enemy's weaknesses in armor and weaponry, their ship's weaknesses, and anything else I think we'd need to win a war, so unless you have something to add, I think we're good for now."

Jimmy nodded as he drank the last of his lukewarm coffee. He yawned a bit. "Well, what about our plan of attack on the Yolkian capitol?"

Shaojia closed the file and took a sip of his own coffee. "We can't think of that now since we have no idea what their planet's surface even looks like." He grimaced as he took another sip of the coffee. "I don't know what this is, coffee or cow piss," he muttered.

As he got up from his seat, Admiral Kang, a tiger demon from the Southern Chang Empire Jimmy concluded from conversation, approached Shaojia. He saluted and said urgently," Sir, I believe you may want to take a look at this." Shaojia nodded and motioned for Jimmy to follow. Admiral Kang was leading them to the meeting room's giant monitor. On the way, he was talking to someone using the implant in his throat like Shaojia had done a few days ago. "Ensign, are your sure?" he muttered as they reached the monitor. He punched in a few commands and waited for the system to load.

Through the cochlear implant in Kang's ear, which Jimmy assumed was also a part of the standard Enforcer implant kit, he and Shaojia both heard a muffled and barely audible reply. "Affirmative, Admiral Kang, sir. Sensors are picking up a fleet of 20, I repeat, 2-0, twenty, Unidentified Space Vessels inbound towards our system at an amazing rate of speed, estimated at 500,000 kilometers per second! ETA 20 minutes! Orders?"

Shaojia, Jimmy, and the other officers all crowded around the monitor. Next to him, a general Jimmy heard Shaojia refer to as 'General Tsung' growled at Kang, "Kang, what is the meaning of this!"

Kang, curiously, flinched and turned around to face Tsung. "My men have picked up several USVs heading our way. I'm trying to get satelite feed on what they're seeing."

Shaojia shook his head and turned off the monitor. "Negative, Admiral, you'll be seeing the feed on your own ship." He then turned his attention to the other officers. "Gentlemen, this meeting is over, but we now have a problem on our hands. I have every reason to believe that the USVs are all Yolkian craft. Everyone get back to your ships and initiate Protocol 24." They all nodded solemnly and filed out the doors.

Jimmy turned to Shaojia and asked, "What's 'Protocol 24?'"

"It's a command that means that we are coming under attack," Shaojia replied as he grabbed the PA system for the ship. "All personnel, initiate Enforcer Protocol 24. Rear Admiral Huang, get on to FleetComm and spread the word. I repeat, initiate Protocol 24, we are about to be under attack. All flight wings scramble, I repeat, all flights scramble; Lizhou's 29th, prepare for immediate assault. Privates Dean and Cassidy, meet them in the Lower Hanger Bay, Floor 13 and bring some friends."

* * *

Cindy was changing in the bathroom into her military uniform when she heard the message that sounded over the PA system. Now, instead of a voice on the PA system, an annoying alarm sounded every second. She quickly buttoned her shirt and was about to walk out of the room when Jimmy burst into the room. "Neutron. what's going on here?!" she yelled as she saw their friends step out of their room looking for the same answer. 

Jimmy shook his head as he turned around to face all of his friends. "Cindy, Shaojia wants you and Sheen to go to the Lower Hangar and grab a weapon." They both nodded, sensing that there was no time to argue, and went to the lift. "Libby, he wants you to go to the bridge and help Rear Admiral Huang." She nodded and left as well. "Carl, Ibsol, he wants the two of you to go to the Communication Room and help there too." The two saluted and headed for the lift as well.

Jimmy turned around towards Shaojia's room where he saw Shaojia and Meiling walking out of the room. Shaojia said to Meiling, "A-Meiling-mei, remember, stay out of the docking bays. Don't even try to tag along on this mission; it's way too dangerous."

Meiling sadly nodded as she embraced Shaojia. "Please be careful, Shaojia-ge."

Shaojia hugged her back slightly before pulling her away. "I will; just be safe and don't get into any trouble." Meiling nodded and ran into the Meeting Room.

Jimmy walked towards Shaojia and asked, "Alright, so what am I supposed to do?"

"Go join Cindy and Sheen in the Lower Hangar Bay. General Tian should be there to brief all of you."

"Wait, aren't you coming, too?"

Shaojia smirked. "I am; just need to grab my helmet."

* * *

Cindy grabbed a staff and an M14 carbine from the weapons rack in the Lower Hangar as 'Protocol 24' sirens rang throughout the ship and the roar of fighter engines filled the bay as squadron after squadron left the bay and soldiers ran back and forth. She and Sheen, who had chosen an M4 automatic rifle, ran to where about 40 W-12 soldiers had gathered near four of the _Infiltrator-_class landing shuttles she had seen in the Enforcer introduction videos two days ago. The shuttles were basically _Deity_-class starfighters with an elongated fuselage that provided room for soldiers boarding the shuttle. On both sides of the 'passenger bay' were twin machine gun turrets. Then she saw Nick and Butch along with about 10 other kids she knew from school, all wearing their black Recruit uniforms with M4 rifles in their hands as well. She also saw a young man with a similar army insignia as Shaojia on his shoulders examining each of the soldiers from N-12. 

She and Sheen walked up to the general. "Hey, what's going on here, uh, sir?" she asked, adding the honorific seeing as she was a lower ranking officer.

The general replied, "Well, if you are Colonel Cindy Vortex and this fellow next to you is Major Sheen Estavez, then you, him, General Neutron, and the others from your universe will all be going with the 29th Lizhou as part of a boardng party that will take over a Yolkian vessel from the inside out for later analysis by Labs 52, 74, and 6 respectively. It is standard W-12 procedure."

Cindy and Sheen then saw Jimmy and Shaojia both approach the group. Jimmy left towards the weapons rack to find himself a weapon while Shaojia continued ahead, his two swords by his side and an M14 carbine slung over one shoulder on its sash while his helmet was held under one of his arms while two M9 pistols could be seen strapped to his ankles. Shaojia approached the group and addressed the general quietly. The two then nodded, shook hands, and the general left to, presumably, try and get everything under control.

Shaojia looked at all of the soldiers before jerking his thumb towards the four landing shuttles and barked, "You've all run this drill before, get moving! Come on, onto the shuttles! Cram if you have to!" At his order, the 32 of the 40 soldiers scrambled onto two of the craft, with 16 soldiers divided evenly on each craft Cindy noticed, while the remaining eight piled onto the third. All that was left was Sheen, Nick, Butch, her, Jimmy, who had returned with an M14 carbine slung on it's sash over his shoulder much like Shaojia had his and his Slice 'n' Dice 3000 in his hand, and the 10 other N-12 'soldiers.' Shaojia addressed all of them. "The reason I've asked you all to come here is because I have noticed how well you have all done in the sims. I think you're all ready for battle." He stepped to the side as to allow them to see the ships filled with soldiers. "But that decision is not entirely up to me."

Jimmy stepped up and stood next to Shaojia. "Guys, this is our first battle. I think it is too early for a real war battle but a close quarters skirmish like on a ship is good for us to build up our strength. I mean, when the other soldiers in our army hear aout it, morale will sky-rocket and we can hopefull take the fight to these Yolk-heads. But like Shaojia said, the choice is yours." He made his way onto one of the boarding craft followed by Shaojia. The others followed onto the shuttle as all three shuttles' engines began to warm-up.

* * *

Eustace Strych stood at the bridge of the main Yolkian battle ship as his newly bred battle fleet of 20 Yolkian ships with crews entirely made of of Yolktars sailed through what the Yolkians called Mana Yoki Taka Toliwa, which in English translates to something similar to Turbo-Fast Space travel. Next to him stood his German butler, Hans. 

Then, a Yolktar next to him gargled, "Sir, we will be approaching Earth in 2 Earth minutes."

Eustace nodded in acknowledgement. "Very well, proceed as planned.."

The Yolktar spoke up again. "However, sir, there is one subject of concern. Our sensors are detecting multiple large bodies the size of space vessles."

Eustace furrowed his eyebrows. "Acknowledged, Admiral. If there are enemy ships, I want you to do whever it is you Egg-people do when you encounter an enemy." He snorted and turned abruptly. "If there is something very important, inform me immediately. I will be in my quarters. Come, Hans." He then proceeded to march down the staricase leading down to what had previously been the equivalent of a war room though Eustace had turned it into his own private quarters.

Hans the butler snapped to attention and saluted. "Yes, mein führer!" he shouted before following Eustace like a lap dog followed by two Russian mercenaries Eustace had hired prior to leaving Earth.

The Yolktar Eustace had just addressed gargled in anger as he turnedback towards the viewport. "Infuriating human."

* * *

Jimmy and the others sat in the crew compartment of the landing shuttle as Shaojia gave orders to the pilot. Suddenly, the entire ship started to rumble as the engines began to warm-up. "Pilot, get on the horn to the bridge and tell them I want them to patch video feed of our situation to my helmet," he heard Shaojia order as he felt the ship begin to move. 

Shaojia came into the crew compartment and placed his helmet onto the floor. He pressed a small button on the 'chin' of the helmet and the T-shaped visor began to glow like a movie projector. On the projection on the wall was a blue, grid-like read-out of all of the ship's around Earth. From what he can tell, Jimmy concluded that all of the blue, wedge-shaped ships were the ships of the W-12 armada while the thousands of smaller, fighter jet-shaped objects circling around the armada were _Deity_-class starfighters. Then, he saw, to the 'right' of the armada, what appears to be a black hole of white light that in turn glowed red as large, chicken-like ships, also marked in red, poured out of it, 20 ships in all, all lined up in a straight line facing the W-12 armada. The 'white hole' disapperead once the last ship exited it. Jimmy instantly recognized the ships as Yolkian battle cruisers. There was a poisonous feel to the air as both sides waited for the other to strike.

Everyone stared at the video feed being projected onto the wall. Sheen was the one to speak up. "What are we waiting for?"

Shaojia looked at Sheen and said, "Sheen, have there been any space battles in that 'Ultralord' show you talk about?"

"A whole bunch!" Sheen answered excitedly. "In fact, just last week, there-"

Shaojia held up a hand to silence him from going on another meaningless rant. "It's a yes or no, question, soldier."

Sheen gulped his speech down and muttered, "Yes, sir."

Shaojia then directed his hand over where his armada floated and then over towards where the Yolkian fleet floated. "Then what's wrong with this picture here?"

Everyone else in the room looked more closely at the read-out. Cindy was the first to notice it. "They haven't sent out any fighters..."

Shaojia sighed then nodded as he yelled at the pilot again. "Pilot, get me the bridge again! Tell them to get one flight to do a fly-by on one of their ships; I want them to unload Hell on it! See if that can get a reaction out of our unwelcome guests."

The pilot nodded from his place in the cockpit. "Yes, sir!" A moment later, Jimmy could see from his position near the cockpit that 4 starfighters were breaking off from the ship to engage something a ways away from his view.

Back on the display, he saw then entire scene. The 4 starfighters flew at amazing speeds towards the Yolkian battle group. At about 500 kilometers by Jimmy's estimate, the Yolkian battle fleet began to manuever away from the fighters and near the white 'black hole' that had yet to dissipate. "Are they... retreating?" Jimmy asked nobody in particular.

"It... looks like it," Shaojia muttered in response. "No, they can't be. This is too easy." They all continued to watch as the fighters came within range of the Yolkian fleet, at 700 meters and closing by Jimmy's estimate. Each fighter then let out two streaming trails of white light each, meaning 8 beams in all. The light beams turned out to be _Hiroshima _missiles. All of the missiles hit their target at the chicken head-shaped bridge at the top of the gigantic Yolkian warship. The dome exploded with a shockwave that everyone on the ship could feel.

Then, the Yolkian battle cruiser began to implode, flumes of fire bursting from it's bowels. However, Jimmy noticed that along with the flames were several small red dots on the display. He also noticed hundreds of them exiting out of the remaining 19 warships. He pointed at them and said, "Look, what are those?"

Shaojia exhaled. "I... I don't know." He reached down to press another button on the helmet's chin. A reticule appeared on the grid. With the press of a few more buttons, the reticule had moved onto a group of the red dots and zoomed in on them. What the new view uncovered shocked them all. Hundreds, maybe thousands of Yolktars floated in space using their boosters like jetpacks and charging towards the battle group as the Yolkian fleet began to move closer towards the W-12 armada. Shaojia smirked as he turned to the pilot again. "Pilot, one more transmission; to all fighters, hunting season has officially opened."

* * *

Jimmy and the others in the crew compartment waited patiently as their shuttle and the other two shuttles flew towards their destination, a Yolkian battle cruiser farthest away from the destroyed cruiser. Luckily, Shaojia and the pilot had managed to tell the entire armada not to fire on the ship that they were heading for. The crew, however, was open season. He looked over at Sheen and Butch who were manning the side machine gun turrets jutting out of the sides of the crew compartment. The sounds of Yolktars exploding riddled the air which is ironic and more than a little odd since sound can't be carried in space. 

From the cockpit, they all heard the pilot yell, "Alright, we'll be landing in the Yolkian landing bay in two minutes so get ready to meet some heavy resistance if that bay is still pouring out Egg Shells!" Jimmy walked up to the cockpit as did Shaojia and Cindy and looked out the cockpit window. Aside from the several Yolktars exploding from the laser turrets at the shuttle's wings and nose, they were able to see the Yolkian battle cruiser, very large in their very close proximity. In what was presumably the landing bay, they saw several Yolktars attempting to exit the vessel as a squadron of W-12 starfighters swept past and mowed them down.

To the side, Jimmy saw the other three shuttles, all three of them opening fire on the Yolktars in the hangar. At that moment, they had entered the Yolkian cruiser's hangar, a large room that glowed iridescent greenish-white and was filled with egg-shaped vessels, presumably Yolkian dropships. As the Yolktars scrambled for cover from all four shuttles' fire, they all touched down in a square-shaped perimeter with their rears facing each other as to give some cover to the passengers that were getting off. The moment the shuttle touched down, Shaojia had run up to the boarding ramp controls and punched the keys to lower it. "If it's ugly and it floats, kill it!"

When the boarding ramp fully lowered, Shaojia ran down it to join his soldiers, all of whom were engaged in combat with the Yolktars. From the boarding ramp, even the pilot joined in on the action, firing randomly into the Yolktars with a pistol. Jimmy grinned as he waved his hand forward. "CHARGE!" The kids behind him hooted and hollered as they charged down the boarding ramp like madmen and entered the battle. Jimmy popped up his rifle to his shoulder and squeezed off a wild round into the crowd of surrounding Yolktars that waited for the wave before them to be mowed down by gunfire. It must have hit something vital somewhere because the resulting explosion started a chain reaction that destroyed five adjacent Yolktars.

Nearby, he heard someone yell in a gruff voice, "Men, fire at their armor! They're like floating grenades!" He then noticed several of the soldiers around him follow the other soldier's advice and fired at the armor of the Yolktars instead of at the head-domes. Explosions went off everywhere as single bullets destroyed multipleYolktars.

Not paying much attention to his surroundings as he fired blindly into the sea of enemies, he didn't notice the Yolktar sneaking up behind him as he turned away from one small portion of attackers to assault another portion. Luckily, Nick did as he charged and shoulder charged the Yolktar into the crowd where it exploded on impact with three more Yolktars which in turn killed at least fifteen more. Nick turned around in shock as Nick grinned. "Hey, soldiers need to stick together, right, sir?"

Jimmy nodded as he shot another Yolktar in the eye. It growled in agony as it swung its staff wildly, hitting its own comrades. Eventually, it broke off from the group and exploded into a wall. Jimmy was about to fire of another shot before he noticed that he was standing about ankle-deep in a pile of Yolktarian goop and Yolkian battle armor, or rather, what was left of the armor. He also noticed that there was nothing left to shoot. He looked around as he saw Shaojia address a soldier with a luitenant's insignia on his shoulder. The two shared a few words before nodding and going around to check the perimeter.

Cindy walked up to him followed by Sheen. "Hey, General Neutron, Sheen and I just did a count. Everyone made it through the battle."

Jimmy smiled slightly as he ejected the empty clip in his rifle like a smooth Texas Ranger from the movies and reached for one of the clips he grabbed before dropping the empty clip. Because of the adrenaline rush of the firefight, Jimmy had failed to notice that he had used up all of his ammo. He checked around his person a little more throughly before shouldering his rifle dejectedly. Jimmy then answered Cindy's statement. "That's great to hear. Say, Cindy, do you have an extra ammunition cartridge I can have?"

Cindy checked her person but found none. Apperently, she had done the same as him. "Uh-oh, I think I'm out..."

Sheen checked for ammo too. "Same here, General Jimmy."

All around them, other soldiers had taken the initiative and started to check for any extra ammunition they might possess. The answer was the same; they either had none or only three or less clips. However, it didn't seem to faze any of the W-12 soldiers at all as they then strapped bayonets to their rifles upon finding out their low supply of ammunition while a few others drew M9 pistols from the holsters on their sides. Jimmy then had an idea and turned to his soldiers. "Hey guys! Grab some of those Yolkian electrostaffs. We'll need to use them when we run out of ammo. And don't throw away your rifles; you can use those as clubs."

Shaojia walked up to Jimmy as he passed a few N-12 soldiers heading towards a pile of dead Yolktars. "Nice work, General Neutron," he said through his helmet's external communicator. "You've come a long way for just a few days of training." Jimmy nodded his gratitude as he moved aside a little bit to allow a few soldiers to pass on their way towards another stash of Yolkian electrostaffs underneath shattered Yolkian armor. "But anyways, I hope there are no casualties?"

Jimmy shook his head proudly. "Nope! All of my soldiers made it through; what about you?"

Shaojia nodded. He motioned towards a pair of relatively large doors that seemed to be the only way in or out of the hangar. "I think that's our only way into the main part of the ship."

Jimmy shook his head as he activated a command on his wrist watch. "I downloaded the schematics of the ship's layout onto my watch," he explained as the watch beamed up a holo-projection of what seemed to be the layout of the 10-level cruiser. He gestured at a lift at what appeared to be near the middle of the room. "According to the readings, this lift should take us directly to the bridge, or at least the level the bridge is on."

Shaojia nodded as he pointed back at the large, double-doors. "And what do those lead to?"

"Those lead to the armories of the ship like the ones we raided on Earth," Jimmy replied. "It'll probably be a trap."

Shaojia nodded as he patted Jimmy on the back. "Good work, there, General." He then walked to where he could get the attention of all of the soldiers. "Alright, people, listen up! General Neutron and I have gone over the schematics of this ship, and it reveals that a lift in this hangar bay will lead directly to the bridge. However, we will need some soldiers to stay behind and help protect the ships in case of an ambush. Any volunteers?" No one raised their hands. "Alright then, you, you, you, you, and you, stay behind and watch the shuttles, they're our only way out of this dump," he said as he picked random soldiers from his and Jimmy's parties. The soldiers whined and groaned but complied with their orders.

Jimmy then took the lead and gestured at the lift in the center of the room. "Alright, everyone, move out onto that lift!"

* * *

Eustace marched angrily up the staricase leading up to the bridge of the Yolkian followed closely by Hans and his two ex-KGB bodyguards, Nikolay Moskvin and Vladamir Pastukhov, two horrifiyingly muscular individuals who were almost always seen with their favored AK-101s. Eustace reached the final step and stepped onto the bridge of the ship once more. He saw several Yolktarian naval personnel running about trying to keep the ship running as what appeared to be an American aircraft zoomed past the viewport followed by three more of the same craft. 

Eustace drew the French court sword he had brought along with him, an heirloom from his late-father whom he had murdered for treachery against him. He took the sword and gracefully impaled one of the Yoltars that was unlucky enough to be close enough to him. As the alien's armor short-circuited and electrocuted its former owner, Eustace recieved the entire attention of the room. "Unless you all would like to end up like this poor bloke, here, I highly suggest that someone tell me what is going on!"

The Yolkian Admiral from before confronted Eustace. "The Devil, your nemesis, has apparently gathered a massive and highly advanced armada. They possess strange vehicles that soar through space and it only took four of them to destroy one of our ships and the shockwave of the weapons they used to destroy it disabled five of the ships near it, and it even damaged the engines to this ship We are now dead in space. I highly suggest retreating to other crafts and then retreating back to Yolkus."

Eustace stomped his feet like a spoiled brat. "No! I will not be defeated by Neutron again! Fight to the last man! He must be eliminated!"

The Yolktar made a sound equivalent to a snort. "It may persuade you otherwise that we suspect the Devil and several highly trained enemy soldiers are aboard this vessel and are apparently headed towards our position."

Eustace paled slightly but regained his composure. "Very well; you all will remain at your posts and keep this ship operational until my quarry and I are safely off of this rust-pile and onto another ship. Then you can leave. Tell the rest of the fleet to expect my arrival." He sheathed his blade and ran out the room followed by his quarry.

The Yolktar snorted once more as he turned back to the viewport. He knew that Eustace and his quarry would have to cross paths with the enemy eventually if they were heading towards the escaped pods which were three levels below, and he doubted that they would survive the encounter. He shouted at a lower officer, "Naval Officer Yoogokal, notify the rest of the fleet. It is time to flee."

* * *

Jimmy slung his rifle the moment the lift came to a halt and drew his energy sword. He quickly analyzed the situation; there were four hallways leading away from the lift area. At the end of each hallway was a staircase that presumably lead up to the bridge of the ship. As the W-12 soldiers moved off of the lift and assumed positions around the entrances to each of the four hallways, Jimmy approached Shaojia. He asked him, "So what's the plan, split up?" 

Shaojia looked at each of the four hallways and drew his jian **(A/N: From now on, I'll be addressing it by its proper name, jian. I don't know why I haven't done so before. Also, broadsword equals dao).** "Yeah, but I want some of your soldiers to stay behind with some of mine. We'll just use those guys as back-up if we-"

He was cut off by one of his soldiers shouting, "Hey, you there, halt!" Everyone else in the room turned towards the source of the noise. In the corridor the soldier that had shouted was guarding were two very muscular men, Caucasian both, wearing army slacks and bandoliers of ammunition across their chests. Behind them were two individuals Jimmy instantly recognised, Eustace Strych, one of his arch-nemesises and his butler, Hans. The two men up front opened fire with their automatic rifles. Everyone took cover.

Next to him, he heard Shaojia shout to his men, "Everyone not in the line of fire, get down the other halls and prepare to flank!" Jimmy turned around to see Shaojia running down one of the hallways followed by some of the other soldiers while others went down different halls. Jimmy followed him, along with Cindy, and his own soldiers. When the group reached the end of the hallway, Jimmy noticed another staircase on the level above which had to lead to the bridge. As he was about to continue up the stairs, he heard gunshots ring out along with the sounds of explosions. When he reached the top, he saw that Yolktars were coming down from the level above him which had to be bridge since the level he was on now appeared to be an odd mix of a war room and a bedroom.

He then spotted Eustace peering over from his position by the stairs shooting wildly at Jimmy's group with a World War II-era German Walther P38. He ducked just in time as a bullet flew over his head. From his cover, he saw Shaojia's soldiers charge out of the stairwell and up the stairs ignoring Eustace and his wild shots completely in hopes of capturing a better firing position.

Just as he was about to join them, a Yolktar that had already made its way down one of the stairs cases charged him and struck him with the butt of its electrostaff, the front end probably having been shot off by someone from the looks of it. Jimmy yelped in pain as the staff struck him in his chest, sending him backwards into Cindy and a few other soldiers behind him and his energy sword into a nearby wall where it began to crackle electricity before turning off. As the Yolktar made its way towards Jimmy, Shaojia, who was halfway up the stairs to the bridge when Jimmy was ambushed, impaled the Yolktar on his jian causing the alien's armor to short-circuit and fry the Yolktar.

After tossing the dead Yolktar aside, Shaojia pulled Jimmy to his feet. "Watch it, there; you're lucky that you didn't get hit with the business end of that staff." He gestured where he had seen the Yolktar strike him.

Jimmy nodded as he walked back up to his former position. He peaked over his improvised cover to see that Eustace was looking down, most likely to load his pistol. He ducked again as Eustace finished reloading and fired a round at him. Next to him, Shaojia retaliated with a shot from his own sidearm, an M9. It barely missed Eustace who turned to the side slightly. Eustace fired back at Shaojia who jumped from his cover, dropped his M9 next to Jimmy, and drew another one. Now, Shaojia was taking cover behind a large, chrome, alien-looking table.

Jimmy took Shaojia's message grabbed the M9 off of the floor and fired at Eustace who ducked. While the three boys were firing at each other, Cindy took the initiative and led the remaining soldiers in her hall up the stairs. Now it was just Eustace, Jimmy, and Shaojia in the war room with Eustace's quarry still firing at Shaojia's men on the floor below.

Then came an event that one would only see in a movie. At the same time, all three combatants fired and there was no discharge, no fire; their guns were dry. Eustace was the first to overcome the surprise and charged Jimmy with a European fencing sword. Jimmy tried to block with his own energy sword only to remember that it was knocked out of his hand when the Yolktar attacked him and it was too far to try and dive for.

Jimmy closed his eyes as Eustace went in for the kill.

Shaojia swung his jian in an uppercut motion as he blocked what would have been a fatal thrust. Eustace glared at Shaojia and snarled as the two entered a swordlock, "Who the bloody 'ell are you?"

Shaojia looked at Eustace in confusion, Eustace's accent throwing him off. "What?"

"I said, you arse, who the bloody hell, are you? This isn't your battle!" Eustace repeated. He then shook his head in dismay. "Look, I don't know who you are and I don't care. But how about this deal; you leave along with your party of hooligans, and I forward $5 million to a new Swiss bank account I will open for you. Sounds good, yes?"

Shaojia jerked to the side as he tried to force Eustace off balance. He succeeded and pointed his sword at Eustace while he stood in a calm stance and Eustace assumed a fencing stance. "Look, I can't understand what in the hells you're saying, but if I'm not mistaken, you're that rich prick, Strych. Well, Mr. Strych, I am hereby putting you under Enforcer arrest. If you refuse to comply peacefully, I have the right to kill you."

While the two armed opponents faced off, Jimmy had taken the oppurtunity to rush for his energy sword. Upon reaching it, though, he was astonished to find out that it had short-circuited from being flung into the wall. He muttered angrily as he threw the sword away. Even without his tools he could see that it was broken beyond repair since it's circuitry had been completely fried. He settled on grabbing a dropped electrostaff. As he rose to help Shaojia with Eustace, both of which had started fencing with experienced parries and jukes, he heard a gun being cocked and felt the cold, steel barrel press into the base of his neck.

"Gets up!" said a voice with a heavy German accent. Jimmy hesitated slightly but the voice, who he guessed was Hans, Eustace's German butler, yelled at him again. "I said up!" From his position, he could see Shaojia busy fighting Eustace which meant that he wouldn't being getting any help from there anytime soon. Jimmy calculated the odds in his head. If he got up, Hans will probably kill him. If he doesn't get up, Hans will definitely kill him. That left Plan C.

In one quick move, Jimmy jumped sideways and brought his captured staff around to try and strike Hans while the German servant fired off a round that barely passed Jimmy's head. Jimmy's blow made hard contact, but his poor angle took some of the brunt off of the strike, but the electrical energy coursing around the tip of the staff more than compensated for the loss of power. Hans doubled-over from pain as Jimmy continued to hold the staff at the exact place he hit and got into a better position so that he can apply more pressure to the injured area.

Meanwhile, Shaojia was blocking Eustace's sloppily angry yet precise strikes. He had seen Jimmy's current predicament and was moving over to give some support to his comrade. After getting into close enough proximity where he could disengage Eustace and kick the butler by just jumping back, he jumped up, used his front leg to kick out and away at Eustace's sword hand, causing the Englishman to drop the blade. His momentum giving him a slight turn, Shaojia leaned forward to grab the sword while keeping his kicking foot in motion where it connected at the heel with the butler's temple.

Jimmy jumped back slightly when Shaojia knocked out the poor butler with his kick and watched as the young warrior sheathed his sword. 'What is he doing?' Jimmy thought as Shaojia touched a hand to the side of his helmet as if talking to someone.

Eustace was wondering the same thing as he looked over at his sword which had been kicked near one of the stair cases. "What, are you giving up already, warrior?"

Shaojia scoffed from inside his helmet, making it sound more like a brief growl. "You've lost. Your butler is unconscious, your bodyguards are probably dead by now, and you're outnumbered. Surrender and you will live to see trial and possibly avoid an eternity in Hell."

Jimmy realized that everything Shaojia had said was true; there was no way two bodyguards could withstand the might of roughly ten W-12 soldiers bearing who knows how many extra weapons on their persons, Hans was on the ground unmoving, and by now, Cindy and the rest of the soldiers in her group had to have captured the bridge. He stepped up to Eustace after picking up the pistol Hans had dropped, a Walther P38, and pointed it at Eustace cooly. "He's right, Eustace; it's over! You should just surrender, and we can get you into a nice and cozy mental facility, you big sack of crazy!"

Eustace roared in anger as he retorted. "Now listen, here, Neutron! There is no way that you can defeat me again! I have had it up to here with you, you nuisance!" Before Eustace could do anything else, the ship shook, and the lights went out.

* * *

Cindy was watching the space battle through the ship's viewport along with the other soldiers with her after they had secured the bridg after the 10 minute battle that took place that mainly involved hand-to-hand combat. It had seemed that the enemy ships were retreating back into a worm hole similar to the one they had created to enter the system. Just as the last ship, probably the one that was originally the third closest to the one they were on, was about to enter the worm hole, a squadron of W-12 fighters swept in and fired their missiles at the ship's bridge, destroying it completely. The shockwave created by the explosion knocked her as well as everyone else on the bridge to the ground. The lights cut out. 

Cindy rubbed her arm which she had landed on when she was flung to the floor. Aside from the small amount of sunlight that entered through the viewport of the ship, it was pitch black. From her left, she heard Sheen ask, "Uh, anyone got a flashlight?"

Then, a strange voice, aquatic in sound, as if it were talking with fish gills, said in an even stranger language, "Yec'neg rem me lika'toa tiva ka'led'o noy'wata." Then, as if by magic, the lights came back on.

Cindy looked over at all of her friends and the W-12 soldiers, who were all looking around in confusion. As she turned back to the viewport to see that the worm hole continued to remain open, perhaps because the ship they were on was the one generating it, she heard someone say, "That was... weird..."

* * *

Jimmy brought his gun around to scan the room as the likes came back on. Somehow, both Eustace and Shaojia had disappeared. Then, he heard a voice that sounded like Eustace screaming in pain. 

He ran to where the voice came from, one of the staircases. He got there in time to see Shaojia throw his rope dart at Eustace who was running away with his sword back in his hands. Eustace, who had apperently had the misfortune of being struck in the shoulder by the dart already, used his sword to bat the tip of the dart away from him to avoid another injury as he continued to run. Shaojia growled in frustration as he ran after the wounded enemy. Jimmy followed, firing with his captured Walther P38 around Shaojia and at Eustace, but all of the shots missed due to the running that threw off Jimmy's aim. He quickly tucked his captured firearm into his belt and kept running the best he could.

From what Jimmy could surmise, Eustace was headed right to the elevator where at least ten soldiers were. He was heading towards a trap. Up ahead, he could see Shaojia gaining in on Eustace and that the sound of their running caused a couple of the W-12 soldiers still stationed at the elevator to turn from their cover. The two soldiers instantly drew their daos and formed a lethal 'X' to block Eustace's path. Eustace, now very desperate, thrust his sword at the soldier on his left's unshielded chest. There was a sickening sound as Eustace's sword penetrated just below the heart and lungs but above the diaphram of the soldier. The Englishman evaded the other soldier's angry swipe and jumped over the wounded soldier and towards the lift

From his position in the hall, Jimmy could see that the other soldiers in the area lunged after Eustace to try and tackle him to the ground. One such soldier managed to trip him up by Eustace up by his feet, but Eustace managed to stumble onto the lift. Enraged, Jimmy saw Shaojia throw his rope dart once more. This time, the dart penetrated thin air as the elevator teleported Eustace to wherever he intended to go. "Dammit!" Shaojia swore as he punched a very sizable dent in the wall next to him. Then he rushed over to the wounded soldier who was holding his wound with one arm. Meanwhile, another soldier with a Red Cross patch on his right bicep was applying First-Aid on the soldier.

Jimmy followed Shaojia to the wounded soldier and kneeled down next to the soldier. There was blood everywhere on the soldier's uniform as well as on the ground where he lay. Jimmy looked at the soldier closely. On his uniform was the insignia of a Private First Class and on his right breast was a name tag/patch that read 'Li.' But what really caught Jimmy's attention was the soldier's apparent age; he was young, very young, maybe 10 at the most. The medic next to them ordered another soldier to help poition the soldier to a different angle so he could wrap a full body bandage around the soldier's chest cavity.

The medic stood up and clasped his hands in front of him somberly after saluting to Shaojia. "General, Private Li has suffered a critical injury that, had it been a tad bit higher, would have penetrated his lungs. We are very lucky that the sword didn't penetrate anything major. I have all reason to believe that Private Li will live, but I strongly suggest at least three weeks bed rest."

Shaojia nodded and shook the medic's hands and ordered for him and two other soldiers to take their wounded comrade back ot the shuttle. He then turned his attention to the rest of the group. "Where are the two men who opened fire on us earlier?"

A soldier next to them pointed down the hall. "Sir, a few of our men went to detain them. We managed to catch both of them in the arms, and our boys should be back any second now with our newest POWs." At that moment, two W-12 soldiers entered the room followed by the two tall, muscular, and overall frightening prisoners that were both bleeding from the arm and winced everytime they walked, with two more soldiers bringing up the rear. It was a rather comical sight, really. Two, full-grown adults being captured and held at gunpoint by four children is just plain hilarious.

Shaojia walked up to the two men and uppercutted one of them in the stomach. Jimmy looked at Shaojia in surprise at the unprovoked assault. Shaojia lifted the chin of the man he had just attacked and said venemously, "Listen to me, and listen good. The two of you are hereby under Enforcer arrest. If you choose to comply peacefully, you will see trial by this war's end and face judgement by Saint Peter's Court of Celestial Justice. If you do not choose to comply peacefully, you will be executed by tomorrow's twilight." The two men looked at Shaojia incredulously, as did Jimmy. Execution seemed a little harsh coming from warrior's of heavenly deities. Then, the men bowed their heads in resignation. Shaojia directed his attention to the men's escorts. "Men, lead our prisoners to the shuttles. Upon our arrival back to our ship, please lead them to the detention center. Also, tell one of the pilots to contact the _Fury of the Gods_ and have them send in two more platoons. In addition, tell them to have all flights to intercept anything heading off this ship, but if it is too close to the ship, just let it go." The soldiers nodded and led their charges to the lift.

Jimmy walked up to Shaojia and asked, "So, why did you uppercut that one guy?"

Shaojia scoffed as he continued to glare at the two detainees. "They're mercs. One of the things I hate most are mercs, guns for hire taking me away from my universe and a peaceful life because they always have to raise Hell everywhere."

Jimmy nodded as he saw that their were only two more soldiers left in the room. Then he remembered that there was another potential prisoner upstairs. "Hey, Shaojia, what about Eustace's butler, Hans? I think that he might prove useful for information."

Shaojia nodded as he looked at the other two soldiers. "You two, follow me and General Neutron." They nodded and followed Shaojia and Jimmy back to the hallyway to the Yolkian war room.

* * *

Cindy made her way down the nearest staircases into the war room where she had last seen Jimmy. Sheen had followed her down and gripped a captured Yolkian electrostaff closely while his rifle was slung over his shoulder. The others were still in the bridge, looking over the result of the battle and trying to see how many of their comrades may have fallen. While they walked down the stairs, Cindy just droned out Sheen's inevitable and incessant Ultralord/reality comparisons as she looked around the room. Aside from an unconscious butler, the room was void of life. Shrugging, she motioned to Sheen as she readied her retractable staff and walked cautiously over to the unconscious servant. Upon closer observation, she could see that the butler was bleeding from the mouth from either internal injuries or getting struck in the face and was huddled up in the fetal position. 

She poked the butler in the side a few times and turned her attention to a faint noise eminating from one of the staircases. "-but even if Eustace did escape from the ship, shouldn't one of your fighter squadrons pick him off?" asked a voice that sounded like Jimmy, much ot Cindy's overwhelming relief.

As she made her way over to where the noise was coming from and Sheen started poking the butler with the other end of the electrostaff, another voice that sounded like Shaojia replied, "They could, but if we want to salvage this damn ship so we can melt it down later for that nuke idea, none of my squadrons would risk firing on anything leaving here until it's about 500,000 kilometers away because for some reason unknown to me, when this series of _Deity_ fighters came out, the tech-mice who were in charge of production took out the chain guns and slapped on _Hiroshima_ missiles, meaning that they can't shoot anything down in front of them which makes them utterly useless in a dog fight unless the pilot's experienced enough to use the razor-edge wing blades that the Labs so _ingeneously _put on a damn fighter! Dumbasses..."

Cindy saw the top of Jimmy's weird hair sticking out from the stairway and rushed over to the stairs. Upon seeing him, she was greatly relieved to see that he was in one piece with the exception of the small piece of charred flesh where he was hit by an electrostaff earlier. Jimmy saw her as well and said, "I'm guessing everything went great on the bridge?"

Cindy smiled softly as she nodded. "Yeah, except for a few minor injuries from those staffs. Do you remember Taylor and Adam from 6th grade? Those two both got a staff to the arm, but it's not real serious and I had one of the W-12 medics patch them up." Jimmy nodded.

During this exchange, Shaojia directed the two soldiers that followed him and Jimmy to pick up the unconscience butler and take him back to the lift. Then, Shaojia ordered Sheen, "Major, I want you to go back up to the bridge and tell everyone to head on back to the lift. We're heading out; I'll send for more soldiers to secure this ship _after_ we get you guys back to the ship. You've all earned the rest." Sheen saluted and marched up the stairs. A minute or two later, he came back down followed by the others in his party.

Jimmy and Cindy both walked up to Shaojia. "So, what now?" Jimmy asked.

Shaojia walked over to Eustace's former desk and moved some papers around. "Not much; the battle's over. All that's left is to secure this ship and we'll be set for now."

"What about Eustace?" asked Cindy.

Jimmy answered for Shaojia. "Shaojia and I just finished talking about it. Even if he does find a way back to the his allies, it won't matter anyways; now that we have his butler and his bodyguards, we're pretty sure that he's out of staff and is now powerless." Cindy nodded in satisfaction of the answer.

Meanwhile, Shaojia opened one of the drawers in Eustace's desk and pulled out a large clip of money (which probably held about $500 worth in bills) and a journal. Shaojia shoved the former into his pocket and picked up the journal. He then started to read the last entry before hastily shoving it at Jimmy. "You better read this."

Jmmy arched one eyebrow in confusion but complied with Shaojia's odd command and read the journal entry while Cindy peered over his shoulder to read it as well. "'March 10, 2002'," Jimmy recited as his eyes scanned the page. "'It has been one hour since my new fleet, produced by that green scoundrel Goobot left the Yolkian home planet. Hopefully, these alien vessels can get me back to Yolkus in time for me to rub it in Calamitous and Goobot's faces after my afternoon tea. Honestly, the nerve of those two; once I destroy Neutron once and for all, I will kill those two like I did my father and maybe make Yolkus my new domain. Yes, all shall know the might of Eustace Strych the Third.'" He slowly put the journal on the desk with wide eyes. "He... killed his own father?" he whispered incredulously.

Cindy took a deep breath as she tried to regain her composure. "We are going up against a psychotathic loon."

Shaojia just shook his head slightly. "Well, at least this'll make his paperwork easier when we finally get him; he's definitely going to spend a long time in Hell."

Suddenly, there was a crackling sound to be heard from Shaojia's helmet. He took it off and laid it on the desk. The crackling sound appeared to be Shaojia's helmet radio. From the other line, a voice said, "General, sir, this is Second Luitenant Huo of the 29th Lizhou. We have recieved word from the _Fury of the _Gods; an unidentified shuttle, about the size of an escape pod, left this ship and has left the system via that weird worm hole. They are requesting permission to send three flights in pursuit."

"Negative, Luitenant," Shaojia replied. "We don't know where that worm hole leads to. Just tell the fleet to sit tight."

"Affirmative, General."

Jimmy turned to Shaojia. "Looks like Eustace got away after all, huh?"

Shaojia nodded sadly. "Unfortunately. Well, nothing we can do now. Let's just get back to base. There's still a bit of paperwork to fill out."

* * *

Shaojia, Jimmy, and Cindy arrived at the Yolkian vessel's docking bay to find that all of the soldiers were already in there ships minus three W-12 soldiers who were gathering Yolkian electrostaffs and piling them all into a nice little pile while anohter soldier oversaw them. That soldier saluted the trio as they approached. "Generals! Colonel!" 

Thr three saluted back. Shaojia dropped his salute and walked over to the soldier who still maintained the salute. "At ease, Luitenant." The luitenant lowered his hand and shook hands with Shaojia. "Status?"

As the two officers exchanged pleasantries and status reports, Jimmy and Cindy walked over to the shuttle that all of the N-12 soldiers had boarded. They both leaned on the fuselage of the shuttle and relaxed a bit. "So this is the first battle, huh?" Jimmy muttered.

"Mmhmm," Cindy mumbled tiredly. "At least it's a win for us."

"Yeah." Suddenly the peace was broken as the large doors that Jimmy had earlier told Shaijia led to the armories slid open. "What in Eistein's ghost?!" Out of the doors stepped two menacingly large, juggernauts wielding large halberd axes the tips of which surged electricity. They both wore the distinctive armor material and design normally assosciated with Yolkian battle armor except their armor was human-shaped. The two behemoths' armor even included the glass dome at the top of their suits to reveal the two black eye stockings of a Yolktar. Jimmy could only presume that they were the adult Yolktars Ibsol had warned them about.

The noise the two behemoths made when they walked drew the attention of everyone else in the room. Shaojia and the luitenant from earlier ran up to Jimmy and Cindy's position while other soldiers peered put of their shuttle's crew compartments. "What in the hells are those things!" cried the luitenant as he drew both of his M9s from his ankles

Thinking quickly, Jimmy used the Walther P38 he had captured from the butler and fired a round at the torso of the Yolktar, expecting it to explode like the ones he had shot before did. Instead, the bullet just went straight through the armor and through the body of the Yolktar who screamed but continued to march towards them, lifting its electroaxe over its 'head.' Now, he and the luitenant were both firing at the two advancing monsters while some soldiers that still had ammunition did the same, but their onslaught of lead was no use as their lullets passed through their armor and their yolky boides. The behemoths continued to advance. "Fall back!" shouted Shaojia as he drew his dao instead of his jian. "Luitenant, General Neutron, Colonel Vortex, you're all with me!" Neither Jimmy nor Cindy had any idea what that meant but caught on when the luitenant drew his dao as well.

"Wait, are we going to charge those... things! That's suicide!" cried Jimmy incredulously, speaking for Cindy as well.

"If you have a better idea..." Shaojia muttered as he got in a ready stance.

Jimmy looked around a bit and then remembered the large pile of electrostaffs. "Hey, what if we use those things? Bullets pass right through them, but the spears should at least apply enough electrical damage to either fry them or at least short-circuit their armor."

Shaojia nodded as he pointed at his soldiers. "Men, grab those spears and throw them at those things!" His soldiers did as they were told and seconds letter an entire hail storm of electrostaffs flew through the air at the two juggernauts. Jimmy's plan worked as the staffs that made contact with the two beasts penetrated the armor and stuck there while their electric tips fried the monsters' insides.Then, one of the beasts fell to its 'knees' and lay still as its gooey body turned a sickly gray until smoke started to pour into the dome shaped head. Seconds later, it exploded and Shaojia and Jimmy's soldiers all let out a hoot of victory.

Their celebration was cut short however as the remaining Yolktar just took out each of the spears like so many annoying thorns with one of its mechanical hands and howled in anguish and anger. It lifted its electro axe and swung down on a nearby Yolkian dropship in rage and laughed a horrible, deformed, and menacing laugh as the egg-shaped dropship exploded and showered small bits of shrapnel everywhere.

Out of ideas, Jimmy conceded to Shaojia. "Alright, your turn."

Shaojia grunted as he glared defiantly at the remaining Yolktar that was now filled with holes and was moving at a slighlty slower pace. "We have no other choice but to take that thing down Old School style." He then turned to Jimmy and Cindy. "Are you two in or out?"

"I'm in," Cindy said after a long pause. "You're right; there's no other choice."

Jimmy nodded. "Alright, so on the count of three?"

Shaojia nodded while the luitenant beside him said nothing as the T-shaped visor of the soldier's helmet gleamed menacingly at the enormous monster they were about to charge. "1..." Shaojia started.

"2..." said Cindy nervously as she readied her staff and got in a stance.

"...3!" Jimmy finished as the four bolted from their positions and charged the behemoth. The behemoth was caught off guard not by the four charging soldiers but by the 40+ soldiers charging it. Jimmy looked behind him to see that all of his and Shaojia's soldiers, inspired by their cunning bravado, drew swords and grabbed unthrown electrostaffs and assisted the charge.

Up ahead, Jimmy saw Shaojia, about half the size of the beast that was probably 12 or more feet tall, slice at one of the Yolktar's legs. The blade cut cleanly through the weak Yolkian material and the Yolktar's goo sizzled on Shaojia's blade before sliding off of it. He was shocked to see that the part of the blade that sliced through the leg was glowing a very dull red as if it had just gotten out of an intensely heated area. Shaojia was shocked as well, so shocked that he barely had enough time to dodge out of the way of the Yolktar's electroaxe.

Shaojia backflipped and got into a low stance as his and Jimmy's soldiers began to hack away at the legs of the Yolktar. The pain was so immense to the Yolktar that it couldn't even hold onto its staff and dropped it harmlessly next to the luitenant, another W-12 soldier, Sheen, Butch, Cindy, Jimmy, and Shaojia. They all made eye-contact and nodded. Shaojia changed to his demon self and, with the assisted strength that Shaojia's demon possessed (which Jimmy would question Shaojia about later), the six lifted the axe like a battering ram. "Get out of the way!" Jimmy shouted as he and his party charged madly at the Yolktar, who was now kneeling on its knees from the assault to its legs. As the Yolktar's eyes turned to see the six try their best to chuck the electroaxe at it. With their combined efforts, the axe penetrated the Yolktar's armor and impaled it. The monster fell to the ground dead, its own weapon embedded in its torso.

Now, the battle was truly over. Shaojia checked his internal clock out of habit. 'Operation Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes.'

* * *

Meiling sat quietly in Shaojia's meditation chamber. Whenever Shaojia went off on a mission, she would always come down there because the room always emitted Shaojia's protective aura. She smiled bemusedly to herself. "Hey," said a voice from the doorway which she has left open. She looked over quickly to see Libby standing by the doorway. "I heard that Shaojia liked to hang out down here so I knew you had to be here." 

Meiling smiled and stood up to greet her. "I thought a little about what you said, Libby, and you're right. I..." she hesitated a bit and blushed. "I do have feelings for Shaojia and I want to fight alongside him so I know he'll be alright, but he never lets me."

Libby nodded in understanding. "Girl, I go through the same thing everytime Sheen goes off on one of Jimmy's crazy adventures which usually end up almost destroying half of Retroville." She chickled slightly and sat down next to Meiling. "I always get worried, but I know that Sheen's craziness is what God gave him to survive. Then again, I always end up having to help the guys fight evil and stuff anyways, but you get my point right?"

Meiling nodded as she went over to Shaojia's weapon racks. "Yeah," she whispered solemnly. "I just wish I can fight side by side with Shaojia for once. I want to show him my worth."

"For what?" Libby asked.

"In China, well my universe's China," Meiling explained, "almost all marriages are arranged by the parents. As orphans, however, Shajia and I actually have definite say in who we may was and I have to prove myself to him that I can be a good wife."

"Whoa, whoa, hold up," Libby said. "Who said anything about marriage? Isn't there a courting period or something?"

Meiling shrugged slightly. "There is, but it usually leads to marriage anyways and some Chinese just skip the courting period entirely."

Libby sighed as she leaned back on her elbows. "Man, that must suck, huh?"

Meiling smiled slightly at her new friend's casual attitude. Before she could say anything else however, the PA system sounded for the second time today and a voice that neither girls truly recognized said, "All personnel, General Wang is now aboard this ship and demands the presence of every soldier here in the assembly hall in one hour, I repeat, one hour. That is all."

Meiling turned to Libby happily. "Well, I guess it's time to greet our boys."

* * *

Shaojia, Jimmy, and Cindy all stood in front of the other soldiers, W-12 and N-12 both, that had gone with them on their raid in one of the docking bays of Shaojia's ship, the _Fury of the Gods_. Shaojia paced back and forth as the soldiers stood at attention and tarfighters landed around them, the flight crews coming to secure their squadrons fighters and pilots. "I have to say that this is probably the absolute best thing that can ever happen to start out the war for us," Shaojia said as he finally stopped pacing. "I can say that I am proud of each and every one of you. Well, that's all; my men, you can all go back to your quarters for a little, but I want you in the assembly hall for a fleet-wide debriefing. For the N-12 soldiers, I believe General Neutron has something he would like to say to you." And with that he left with some of his soldiers to the lift. 

Jimmy cleared his throat as he stepped over to where Shaojia previously stood. "Ahem, uh, as General Wang has said, I do have something to say to all of you," Jimmy started as he looked over each and everyone of his soldiers, all young boys and girls, all of his friends, who have now been turned into pretty decent soldiers. "I am proud to see that all of you have made it without a scratch. I... am proud to see that you all have fought just as well as some of Shaojia's soldiers. But some of you may have overheard me and Shaojia speaking on the trip back. This war is probably going to be a very brutal one; the Yolkians obviously aren't as advanced as their mode of transportation is and their armies fight just like the armies of the Middle Ages did, with cold steel and pure brutality. I don't want any of you to get hurt even though that's what being a soldier more or less means. That is why I am going to be sending one last recruitment initiative today to your quarters and if you choose to remain in this army, Shaojia and I have agreed to make you full members of the Enforcers and you will be the ones to help fight this war. This isn't a game. This is the real deal." He lowered his head a little and then looked back up. In a more chipper tone of voice, he said, "Alright, that's a wrap guys; go to the arcade, get some lunch, whatever. I want all of you to meet in the assembly hall like Shaojia told you to."

As his soldiers began to march onto the lifts, talking amongst themselves, Cindy walked over to Jimmy and asked, "So what did you and Shaojia talk about?" She crossed her arms defiantly and looked at him. By now, Sheen had approached and looked as if he wanted to know the same thing.

Jimmy shook his head. "I think you guys should see this." He waved them over to one of the shuttles where three W-12 soldiers, one wearing sergeant's insignia, were gathered around a stretcher that another W-12 soldier lay on while a soldier with a picture of a red cross on a band on his bicep, more than likely a paramedic, peeled away some bandages wrapped around the other young man's mid-section. Sheen and Cindy both gasped as the bandages were peeled away to reveal blood, lots and lots of blood seeping through the soldier's uniform.

"What happened to him?" asked Cindy as she continued to watch the scene. Now, another paramedic had arrived and spoke to the other paramedic in Chinese, presumably assessing the situation.

"Eustace was on the ship we were boarding," Jimmy explained. "We tried to get him but then the lights went out. He tried to get past that soldier and another one who was blocking his way to the lift, but that poor guy got stabbed in the stomach with Eustace's sword."

Sheen looked away slightly from the seen as the two medics changed the soldier's bandages, grabbed the stretcher's ends, lifted it up slowly and gently, and made way for a lift followed by the soldier's squadmates. "Aw man, I haven't seen anything that bad since that awesome 1999 Ultralord movie, "Ultra Band of Brothers 3: The Battlefront of Argulon 9."

Jimmy and Cindy both ignored Sheen as he rambled on about the aforementioned movie, as usual. "So you're worried that something like that might happen to one of us?" asked Cindy.

Jimmy nodded as he started for the lift. "Not 'might,' Cindy; will. It's a proven fact that there is a higher chance of death in a close-quarters battle with swords and spears than in a city with guns and tanks; swords can never run out of ammunition and will almost always neutralize." He stepped onto the lift, followed by Cindy. He pressed the key for the Officer's Quarters so that the two of them could get a little rest.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," she sighed as the lift began to go up. "It's just... it's gonna' be hard to fight a war when even our own people don't want to fight in it."

"But our people are just kids," replied Jimmy as he sat in the corner of the lift as it continued to rise. "Of course they don't want to fight this war. The normal mentality of kids their age is a high sense of self-preservation in both physical and social dimension. In fact, it's probably the best choice that they can make right now."

Cindy sat down beside him. "True, but they'll have to grow up sometime."

Jimmy nodded. Then, the PA speaker sounded and a voice that neither of them recognized said, "All personnel, General Wang is now aboard this ship and demands the presence of every soldier on this ship in the assembly hall in one hour. That is all."

He looked to Cindy and smiled. "By the way, did you enjoy our little date last night?" he asked coyly.

Cindy smiled and scooted over closer to him. "Oh did I ever; Jimmy, I never thought that I would ever say this in my life but you really know how to treat a lady."

Jimmy smiled back as he moved his face closer to her. Then, as usual, the lift stopped and the two got up from the floor. It appeared that because of the current situation, no one was even on the floor of the Officer's Quarters. "I'm gonna' go take a nap; care to join me?"

Cindy stepped back, slightly aghast. "Hey, whoa there, pal, I am not that kind of lady! Get a hold of yourself, you hormone driven hound!"

Jimmy scratched his head slightly in confusion until he blushed crimson from what Cindy must have inferred. "No, no! That's not what I meant! I meant take a nap in our room because we just had to fight a battle on an enemy ship!" he reiterated.

Cindy smiled devilishly and grabbed Jimmy by his military unifrom's collar. "I know; it's just fun to mess with you, ha!" With that, she walked to their room, swaying her hips in a slighlty seductive manner as if daring him to follow.

Jimmy just stared at her incredulously. She just tricked him. "Oh, she's good," he muttered before following after her.

* * *

Shaojia sat in a chair on the balcony overseeing the massive assembly hall that stretched almost as far as the eye could see. Instead of either his casual Chinese robes and his Enforcer military uniform, he wore the armor of the Chinese Imperial Army **(A/N: GoogleImage search 'chinese armor' and you'll see what I'm talking about)** with a few personal tweaks. On his breast plate was the Imperial emblem of the 9 Immortal Guardian Dragons, a crimson red cape flowed silkily down his back, his two swords strapped to his waist with a crimson sash, and his torso, arm, and leg armor was painted black along with his helmet while crimson shoulder pads jutted out from his shoulders with his rank's insignia on them. Honestly, Shaojia thought he looked like his father in some of the old scrolls he kept. 

He stood up and looked over the balcony where the Imperial Band was setting up somewhere below the balcony. The speech he was about to make was vitally important as it would tell the entire army how the war will be fought and thus he wanted to make as much an impressionable impact as he did when he spoke to his men two days ago.

Shaojia turned around just in time to see the door open and Meiling rush through the door to embrace him tightly. "A-Shaojia-ge!" (Elder Shaojia!)

Shaojia smiled as the young girl hugged him despite his current choice of appearance. "A-Meiling-mei, ni hao ma?" (Young Meiling, how are you?)

"Hao, dan ni jin xing le zhengdou! Ni shi teng ma?" Meiling asked worriedly. (Good, but you just fought a battle! Are you injured?)

Shaojia chuckled slightly. "Wo shi wei shang hai le.." (I am alright.)

The sound of the door opening once more caught his attention as he turned to see General Tian walk in. He salutes sharply. "Jiangjun Wang! Chen lai le anzhao yaoqiu." (General Wang, I, your official, have come as requested.)

Shaojia nodded as he noticed that General Tian, more familiarly known to him as Quanbei of the Northern Chang Empire. "A-Quanbei-jun, ni hao ma?" (Friend Quanbei, how are you?)

General Tian, or rather Quanbei, relaxed slightly since Shaojia had spoken to him in the informal; that meant business hours were temporarily over and they can speak more casually to each other. "Hao, dan zenme zhengdou shi?" (Good, but how did the battle go?)

Shaojia sighed slightly as he went back over to sit in the chair he sat in about five minutes ago. "Ta hao shi; zhi yi zhan shi shang hai le. Bu tai wei xie sheng ming." (It went well; only one soldier was injured. Nothing life-threatening.)

Quanbei nodded in satisfaction as he went to sit next to his friend while Meiling did the same on the other side of Shaojia. "Hai jun shao jiang Huang jia ru wo men ma?" (Will Rear Admiral Huang be joining us as well?)

Shaojia nodded as he looked over to where a few W-12 soldiers were filing into the room wearing their Enforcer issued uniforms, a great contrast compared to the one he was currently wearing which Quanbei didn't seem to notice yet. "Shi." (Yes.) He sighed sadly. "Wo ren wei zhe chang zhan zheng jiang shi hen ang gui yi ge." (I believe that this war will be a very costly one.)

* * *

Jimmy couldn't stop staring at Cindy's resting form. Even though he had stayed up all night last night, just seeing her resting in her bed like that gave him the energy to fight a thousand battles. He looked at his watch and sighed. It was time to get up if they wanted to get to the assembly hall on time for Shaojia's speech as well as his. 

He got up from his bed and straightened out his uniform. Until now he had neglected to give himself an insignia, half because he hardly had any free time as it is and half because he didn't neccessarily needed one. He made himself a mental note to make one later and entire sample set for his army along with a custom uniform if he ever had the chance.

Jimmy walked over quietly to Cindy and shook her awake gently. "Cindy, Cindy..."

"Mmm..." she murmered in her sleep. "Five more minutes, Mama..."

Jimmy chuckled slightly and began to shaker her a little less gently. "Come on Cindy, you have to wake up now. We're gonna' be late for the assembly."

Cindy rolled over towards him and smiled slightly as she opened her eyes. "I guess what they say about men in uniforms is true," she said slyly as she got up from her bed. "How long do we have left?"

"Ten minutes," Jimmy answered as he went to the door. "Let's go." Cindy followed Jimmy outside the door to see him standing in front of the wardrobe generator. He punched in a few commands and a white light engulfed him. When it dissipated, Jimmy's hair was shorter instead of his idiotic swirl, looking close to a military flat top except a bit more civillian in appeal, and a red service cap rested on his head with his trademark Neutron seal on the front in yellow.

"Hmm, about time you got rid of that weird ol' haircut," Cindy commented as Jimmy took off his cap to feel his head.

"Yeah," Jimmy said as he ran his hand through his new hairstyle, "I think it would probably get in the way of battle." Besides, it just looked plain goofy in the middle of battle.

Cindy grabbed Jimmy's wrist as he went to put his cap back on. "I like it," she whispered in his ear.

He smiled as he led her over to the lift. As he pressed the button for the assembly hall, the PA system sounded once more, this time to remind everyone to be in the assembly hall. "Man, this is gonna' be a big speech," Jimmy muttered as the lift descended.

"What's this all about, anyways?" Cindy asked as she raised her hands to fix her slight case of bed hair.

"Shaojia didn't go into a lot of depth, but he said that 'There's been a change of plans,' whatever that's supposed to mean." He watched Cindy's slender hands carefully tie her hair in a ponytail that fell down her back.

Cindy shrugged as the lift slowed to a halt. "Maybe he meant the war plan; the Yolkian army is fighting like an old-fashioned army, something his army isn't too used to, I guess, so he wants to tell his troops and our troops about this change."

Jimmy shrugged as well as the two walked down the hall to the balcony overlooking the assembly hall. "I guess we'll find out soon."

Once Jimmy opened the door leading out to the balcony, he and Cindy saw all of their friends (Carl, Libby, Sheen, Ibsol, Meiling, and Shaojia) standing there along with four other W-12 officials, ranging from Captain to General based on the insignias. What caught their eyes the most, however, was Shaojia's choice of apparel, a suit of Imperial Chinese armor.

Shaojia nodded towards Jimmy while the others (minus Meiling) saluted. Jimmy saluted back and lowered his hands, motioning the others to do the same. Shaojia greeted Jimmy, "Nice hair cut." The others noticed this as well but decided against commenting on it.

Jimmy mumbled his acknowledgement of the compliment, walked up to Shaojia and asked, "So, I'm guessing that your new armor has something to do with today's speech?"

Shaojia nodded as he stood up to his full height, his appearance made more imposing and regal by the armor. "The team I sent in over an hour ago just sent in a report, confirming both of our beliefs; the Yolkian army is very primitive in weaponry compared to their other technology."

Jimmy nodded, understanding this while the others gathered around to listen. "So that means that we'll be fighting like them, hand-to-hand?"

Shaojia shook his head. "Yes and no. Jimmy, have you ever heard of Chinese fire-lances?"

Jimmy nodded his head slowly. "Yeah, those are one of the first ballistic weapons ever made, why?"

Shaojia smiled proudly. "I talked to Paosung. He's arranged to have our entire modern armory swapped out with traditional Chinese weapons; we'll be going to war like them, but we'll have a few tricks up our sleeves"

"Wait, wouldn't it be easier to fight this war with modern weapons?" Jimmy asked as his eyes went down to his belt where he had put his captured Walther P98.

Shaojia shook his head. "You would think so, but no; tanks fire too slowly to kill all of the infrantry that charges them so they can easily be overtaken, guns can run out of ammo and aiming them sometimes distracts you from what's coming at you from your flanks, and Chinese armor can probably take quite a beating from those staffs of theirs before they break whereas kevlar might take away some of the brunt of the blow but won't stop the electricity from those staffs."

Jimmy sighed and nodded as he walked over to the railings of the balcony and looked at the sea of soldiers, his own soldier's scattered sparsely like the stars over Downtown Retroville on New Year's Day. "What's... what's the usual mortality rate for a war like this?" he asked solemnly.

Shaojia sighed and motioned for the others to sit down. "It depends on how long the war lasts and there's no way to unbiasedly predict a war's duration. If this war lasts as long as I think it will, 3-9 months, then I think we may have a death toll of at least 35,000."

Jimmy's jaw fell slack. "That many?" he whispered.

Shaojia nodded and left for the podium. "May I have everyone's attention?" All of the soldiers stopped their sparse conversations and turned their attention to the podium. "I have called all of you here today to discuss the war. As you all know, at around oh-7-hundred today, the Yolkians launched an attack against us and failed miserably, but only because we were better equipped in space. On land, however, is a different story. Our enemy fights with unparalleled ferocity and will fight to the last soldier if need be. I know for a fact that the soldiers of W-12 are very familiar with their way of war. If they wish to fight with spears and swords, we shall greet them with spears and swords!" He paused momentarily for the soldiers to finish their cries of approval. Jimmy was amazed when a few soldiers even drew their swords and shook them viciously in the air.

Jimmy turned to Cindy as the soldiers continued to cheer. "I guess they share Shaojia's view about guns, too, huh?"

Cindy shrugged as the noise level gradually lessened. Shaojia continued. "However, the soldiers of N-12 are unfamiliar with war in general. So, to address this problem, General James Neutron has proposed a plan." Shaojia stepped down from the podium and motioned for Jimmy to go up next.

Jimmy nodded and approached the podium. Again, he was shocked at how massive and vast his ally's army was and how his own soldiers fell so naturally into the mix. He swallowed his apprehension and spoke. "Ahem, as General Wang has stated, I have a plan to find out who is truly willing to go to war," he said specifically to his own soldiers. Curiously, the W-12 soldiers continued to watch him, as if observing him, testing him... He shrugged off the feel ing and continued. "Sometime after your afternoon exercises and routines, I will send out a Verification Clause. On it, you will decide your fate: If you choose to stay in the army, you have recognized that you are ready to give up everything, your life, your friends, your family, everything, you know that there is no turning back, and that you know what you're fighting for. You will then be enrolled into the Enforcer ranks under the N-12 District. If you choose not to stay in the army... then you just don't go to war. You will stay on the ship while we are in space and stay in the base if we must bring this ship down to the Yolkian surface. Whatever is neccessary to make sure you don't see any combat and can't possibly get hurt, even if that means shipping you back to Retroville."

An uncomfortable but thoughtful silence set in as Jimmy left the podium and Shaojia stepped back up. "Dismissed. You are all free for the day until oh-12-hundred. Then it's back to work."

As he stepped down from the podium, General Tian walked up to him and saluted. "Sir, please tell me we do not have another L-8 on our hands," he said with much apprehension.

Shaojia nodded slowly while Jimmy and his friends became confused. "What happened at L-15," asked Jimmy.

Shaojia sighed slowly. "About two years ago, my men and I were called in to assist these 'Spartan' warriors combat some power-hungry lunatic who had found some object of power that could destroy the Earth. In most universes, the Spartans were supposed to have died out centuries ago with that object, but they were still around and their univrse was just like mine, relatively primative compared to the others."

Jimmy nodded as he began to understand what had happened. The Spartans had been known to fight to the death, to never retreat, and to take considerable losses while taking down 10,000 of the enemy with them. "So you lost many in the war?"

Shaojia shook his head. "Not that many, maybe 15,000 at the most, but the sights in that kind of war, the smells of sweat and blood, the sounds of men screaming everywhere... Think of it as taking a vacation to Hell. You'll be glad to even make it back at all; a few missing limbs were considered pretty lucky."

Jimmy looked at Shaojia and then over to the sea of soldiers that was gradually shrinking as the soldiers filed out of the room. He could never bear the thought of any of his friends dead. Now he faced the very real possibility of all of them dead.

* * *

Jimmy walked down the halls of the detention center followed by Goddard as a W-12 soldier, who was wearing the same type of Chinese armor Shaojia wore along with a Chinese qiang (spear) in his hand, and a dao strapped to his side, led them to where Hans was being held. It was an hour since Shaojia's speech and he had taken it as his duty as the N-12 Chosen Warrior to find out what the new POWs knew. The soldier stopped by the door and stood at attention as he keyed the open button for the cell door. Jimmy nodded his thanks to the soldier and drew his captured pistol, just in case. 

When he stepped into the cell, he was surprised to see that it was completely dark with the exception of the swinging light that barely lit up the room One figure was sitting in the corner of the room with his hands apparently bound. Jimmy said to Goddard, "Goddard, lights, please." Goddard barked in compliance and a large light protruded from his back attatched to a mechanical arm. The light lit up the room and allowed Jimmy to see that Hans did indeed have his hands bound by handcuffs and was also bound to the cell itself by shackles attatched to his ankles, the chains attatched to them allowing 3 feet of free motion to the most. There was a single bed in the cell and the walls seemed to be made of solid titanium. "Hello, Hans," Jimmy said as he holstered his captured pistol since there seemed to be no real threat.

Hans glared at Jimmy angrily and tried to lunge at him, but his bound hands and shackled ankles prevented such a task. Instead, the butler settled for cursing Jimmy silently under his breath. He then glared pointedly at Jimmy. "Let me go, you impedant little bastard! Mein führer will surely kill you! Unhand me, and I may be able to persuade mein führer to make your death a quick one!"

Jimmy frowned as he approached Hans. With his inexperience with hands-on psychological torture and interrogation, he didn't know how to start. He just settled for trying the Bad Cop approach. He takes the pistol and uncertainly put it to the butler's head. "What do you know about this new League of Villians?"

Upon the sight of the pistol and the menacing light that reflected off of its cold, steel barrel, Hans' former attitude of arrogance and hate turned into one of apprehensive fear and anger. "I... I'll tell you not-zing!"

Jimmy looked to Goddard and motioned for his companion to shine the light specifclly at the butler's face, causing the servant to squint his eyes and try to turn his head away from the light the best he could. "Oh yeah?"

The butler gritted his teeth as Goddard took it upon his programming to turn up the voltage on his light Now, the light was so bright and so close that it was starting to heat the servant's face to uncomfortably hot proportions. "I'll... I refuse to say any-zing to ze likes of you!"

Just as Jimmy was about to order Goddard to turn up the light even more, the door to the cell opened and in entered Shaojia followed by a slightly taller soldier who's apparel was reminiscent to a Japanese Shogun. Shaojia addressed Jimmy. "I think you softened him up enough, General, so how about letting the professional take over?" Jimmy reluctantly nodded as he motioned for Goddard to follow him as he walked up to Shaojia who motioned to the individual behind him. "This is Major Hiromoto, Company Leader of the 52nd Japanese Platoon, the entire, more or less, Special Forces divison for W-12. He is also an Interrogation Specialist."

The major nodded in recognition as his armored form moved passed Jimmy and Shaojia. He turned to Shaojia and asked in a distinctively Asian accent. "General, is lethal force permitted?"

Shaojia looked to Jimmy who reluctantly shook his head. "Negative; once you milk him dry, turf him to Exports and have them take him to a detention center back to the N-12 Enforcer stronhold. There should be one up by now, but if there isn't, stuff him in one of ours. Then, do the same thing to the other two we brought in. I want the full intel round-up in either my hands or General Neutron's hands before oh-8-hundred hours sharp tomorrow." The major nodded and saluted. Shaojia put a hand on Jimmy's shoulder, leading him out o the room with Goddard following them. "Trust me, you don't want to see this." As soon as the door of the cell closed behind them, the butler's terrified and agonizing screams could be heard, causing Jimmy to cringe visibly.

Jimmy asked Shaojia, "Hey, when I was down in my lab earlier to get Goddard, I made a few adjustments to your ship's engines I think you'll like." Shaojia nodded and followed him. As three walked down the hall back to the lift, Jimmy asked Goddard. "Goddard, how are those flyers I asked for coming along?"

Goddard activated his voice box and anwered, "They are completed, Master." Then, the mechanical canine's back opened up to allow a mechanical arm to hand over a large amount of papers held together by a rubber band. As Jimmy accpeted them and looked over the top one, Goddard asked, "Are they to your specifications, Master?" Meanwhile, Shaojia observed the mechanical hound in curiosity.

Jimmy nodded proudly as the trio arrived at the lift. After pressing the button for the lab/engine room, he bent down to pet Goddard. "Good boy, Goddard! That's a good boy!" Soon enough, the lift stopped and Goddard bound off of it and into the lab.

Shaojia commented to Jimmy. "Interesting... dog you have there, Jimmy."

Jimmy nodded as he followed Goddard into the lab. "He was my first invention; I made him when I was 4." Shaojia's eyes opened slightly in mild shock as he followed Jimmy into the lab. 'Way too smart for his age,' Shaojia thought. 'A damn waste of his talents on the battlefield.'

Shaojia looked around casually as he made his way over to one of Jimmy's inverntions, a remote control-like object with buttons and dials clearly indicating it as a shrink ray of sorts. Not one to meddle with the sciences, he left it alone and went to see what Jimmy wanted to show him. "Alright, so what's this all about, Jimmy?"

Jimmy gestured with a hand proudly at the engines of Shaojia's ship. "I took the liberty of refitting your entire engines system and now," he patted them for emphasis, "they're working at tip-top shape. They can make the trip to Yolkian space in mere days, unless we decide to use that worm hole the Yolkians left behind."

Shaojia nodded as he absorbed all of the information. "So that's why the engine room wasn't purring like it usually does. Nice work there." He walked up to the engines, but couldn't find any trace of modifications. Jimmy must be one good mechanic to do something like that. "Yeah, I don't think we'll be using that worm hole. I'll remember to send a request to have some research done about them down to Lab 9, but knowing those morons, I'll have their full report by next year tomorrow."

"Actually," Jimmy said, "I know quite a bit about worm holes myself. They're safe to use as long all electronics are turned off completely when entering the worm hole or else the entire vessel will implode or get warped to some unkown region of space."

Shaojia sighed. "I think we'll need to have another chat with the other Brass Chiefs." He started walking to the lift. "Get ready for another long chat at lunch. I want to see you, and if possible, Ibsol and Cindy in the meeting room by oh-13-hundred today in the meeting room for lunch."

Jimmy sighed as well as Shaojia stepped onto the lift. He knelt down to pet Goddard who was laying prone by his side, eagerly accepting the attention. "Well, boy, looks like we've still got a long day ahead of us." The canine companion whined in sympathy.

* * *

Jimmy found Cindy talking with Libby about only God knows what around the meeting room's central table. "Hey Cindy can I talk to you for a moment?" Jimmy asked as he approached the girls. 

Cindy simply nodded in acknowledgement. After all, since it was her break, she didn't have to acknowledge anyone's rank, did she? "What do you want, Neutron?"

Jimmy simply rolled her eyes. 'Same ol' Cindy,' he thought with a small smile. "In light of today's events I want to see you in this room at oh-13-hundred for a discussion with the high-ranking officers of our allied army."

Libby replied instead of Cindy. "Wow, Jimmy, since when you take this whole army thing seriously?"

Jimmy shook his head. "If I don't, someone's going to get hurt. That's why it's important for you to be here."

"Why, what's wrong," Cindy asked, her facade fading.

"I don't know," Jimmy replied as he looked at his watch. '11:05' "Well, I better get going. I have to find Isbol and tell him to come down, too. I have the feeling that something important's about to happen."

Cindy watched as Jimmy walked out the door, attempting to imitate Shaojia's military stride; straight back, eyes straight ahead, and hand and feet alternating in rhythmic succession. She sighed happily as the door shut behind him. Beside her, Libby rolled her eyes. "Girl, you got it bad." Cindy could barely hear her.

* * *

It had taken about 30 minutes, but Jimmy had finally found where Ibsol was. The former Yolkian soldier was talking with some of Shaojia's soldiers, all dressed in the traditional Chinese armor, in the gym, showing off some of his Yolkian Grand Army staff training with one of the soldier's spears **(A/N: Called a qiang)**. Upon his arrival, all of the soldiers saluted in unison. "General!" was the uniform cry. 

Jimmy nodded in acknowledgement, now starting to realize how Shaojia could be so annoyed about the gesture being barked at him everytime he entered the room. But such is the curse of leadership, he supposed. "At ease," he said, borrowing one of Shaojia's phrases. "Sergeant Nravalok, can I talk to you?" Ibsol tiled forward slightly, trying to imitate a nod. The W-12 soldiers thus took it as their cue to leave.

"What is it that you wish, General?" Ibsol asked with much respect in his alien voice.

"Is it possible for you to go to the meeting room for lunch instead of the mess hall today?" Jimmy asked, dropping his facade of a rough, tough, mean, lean controlling son-of-a-bitch that video games, movies, and television had so comonly characterized his new rank. "There's going to be an important meeting today and I would like for you to be there to help the information swapping that's sure ot go down."

Ibsol nodded as he looked over to where about 16 of Shaojia's soldiers were walking to a miniature football field, probably a quarter of the size of an actual one, that Jimmy had somehow failed to notice in the gigantic gymnasium that could turn Carl into The Invincible Bulk. The soldiers, now dressed in basketball shorts and T-shirts instead of a uniform or a set of armor, were chatting amonst themselves, reminding Jimmy of the peaceful days, so seemingly long ago but in actuality, it was almost a week ago.

Ibsol looked at the group of soldiers with a longing gaze. "If only some of my fellow Yolkians could have defected with me," he muttered.

"What did you say?" Jimmy asked as he followed the Yolkian's eyes.

Ibsol shook his 'head.' "Oh, it's nothing, General," he said in aa sad voice before returning to a more cheerie tone. "I shall see you at lunch!" he promised before running off into towards the soldiers.

"That was strange," Jimmy thought aloud.

* * *

General Tian was sitting in a dark room filled with constant chatter, mostly vulgarities, one hand clutching onto an emoty bottle of Chinese whiskey while two more empty bottles sat his right, his mind reliving some of his most horrifying war memories, a suit of Imperial Chinese armor worn proudly on his person as the helmet sat in the Pilot's Bar in the mess hall. He yelled at one of the robotic bartenders, "Hey, bar keep, another Tsingtao, double the alcohol." 

"You really got to lay off the drinks there, Quanbei," a voice from behind said as the owner sat in the stool next to him. "It's not good for you."

Quanbei looked over to Shaojia, who had ordered himself a small serving of Chinese rice wine, and commented in a surprisingly sober voice, "One of the perks of being descended from the gods, as all demons are, my friend." It was weird, really. Sometimes, he would speak to his fellow officers in English and sometimes in Mandarin. It must be a side-effect of either too much close-quarters fighting or just Enforcer service in general. "Besides, it helped me keep my sanity over the years. The Mrs. doesn't exactly approve, but she understands. Just hope any kids I have in the future don't pick up my habit."

Shaojia nodded as he took a practiced swig of his own beverage. "Yeah, sometimes Meiling gets on me the same way. How is she, anyways, your wife? Last I heard, she was worried half to death from that incident over in M-2."

Quanbei just scoffed. "She needn't worry. It was barely a scratch anyways." He looked down at his left arm, which, under the layer of armor, still bore the scar inflicted by an ambushing assassin, the mad man he had been sent after in order to restore balance in that particular universe. He got a cut on the arm; his target got a bullet in the face. "Besides, that was a year ago."

"Kids in the future?" Shaojia asked casually.

"Not too immediate, maybe a year or so, but as soon as the community Elders and the High Priests think we're 'old enough' to copulate, we're hoping for a strong boy. I don't see what the fuss is about; she served for a few years and I'm still in the armed forces to this day, downing whiskey with my superior officer in a dark room surrounded by Fly Boys." Quanbei downed the rest of his drink after that confession. He signaled for the bartender robot to make him another. "Sometimes I think those old geezers have long abused that 'Health Care' thing you instated. Pretty good idea, though."

"Hmm," was the thoughtful response. "I've been thinking about Meiling myself lately."

Quanbei looked over at Shaojia in mild surprise. There was no surprise that Shaojia had some sort of affection toward the young girl, whatever it may be, but thinking about it in the middle of a war? "That's dangerous thinking," he commented to his superior officer.

Shaojia shook his head as he motioned for the bartender to get him another cup of rice wine after downing the rest of his drink in one sitting. "I know, but sometimes you can't help it. Especially since I have to see her every day here. Ah, it's probably nothing."

Quanbei just nodded his head as his companion went on. "You think it's just because you're afraid something might happen to her one of these days?"

Shaojia nodded as he downed another cup of premium Chinese rice wine. "Hey bar keep, something a little stronger, uh... get me a vodka and none of that watered down crap, either!"

"I hear that's strong stuff," Quanbei commented. "Ah, what the Hell? Bar keep, get me one, too." The bartender robot slid down a fairly large bottle of vodka and two shot glasses down the bar like any other human bartender. Quanbei used his thumb to pry open the cap of the large bottle and poured Shaojia and then himself some of the Russian drink. Quanbei took a sip of the drink and his eyes widened in surprise. "Our boys over in Lab 7 ought to get together with some of the Ruskies in V-9. This shit is strong!"

Shaojia looked over at his companion before trying some of the drink himself. "Not bad. Nothing like the vodka I snuck out of a captured base in Stalingrad during the Second Cold War in R-7."

"What a mess that was," Quanbei muttered as he raised his shot for a toast. "To Ole Chun, that brave bastard, may the gods rest his soul."

Shaojia's glass met his companions with a satisfying _CLINK _as the two glasses connected. "To Chun." The two generals then downed the rest of their drink, per tradition. "I have a feeling we're gonna' lose a lot more men this time around."

Quanbei nodded and poured some more vodka into his glass as well as Shaojia's. "Thank the gods for liquor."

* * *

Jimmy sat in his usual seat as other high ranking military officials. Instead of saluting each other, however, they just shook hands. To his right as always was Cindy. Meanwhile, Libby was over in the corner speaking with one of Shaojia's officers. The young general in question was not present nor was General Tian. 'He can't be late for his own meeting, can he?' Jimmy thought. 

He was answered by the opening of the door as Shaojia and General Tian stepped into the room. Though it was very faint and mostly covered by the scent of Tic-Tacs, Jimmy was close enough to get a wiff of alcohol on Shaojia's breath. 'Has he been drinking?!' Jimmy thought. Now was not the time to question his friend's habit, Jimmy realized, but he promised himself that he would ask about it later.

"Alright, everyone's here, right?" Shaojia asked as he went to sit down at his chair. Surprisingly, there was not a single sign in his voice that would indicate that he had been drinking. 'Maybe it was a beer scented breath mint?' Jimmy mentally joked. In response to Shaojia's question, everyone grunted in response though that didn't actaully anwer the questionl. After doing a quick, mental head count, Shaojia then said, "Good. Now, we are here today to discuss the course of this war. Fortunately, we have our Yolkian informant, Sgt. Nravalok here today to assist us in planning this war. Now, Sergeant, what is the Yolkian arsenal made of?"

All eyes turned towards the Yolkian as he spoke. "Traditionally, the Yolkian Army is only used to enforce peace around Yolkus, but it has been known to win a few wars. Compared to your firearms, I suppose Yolkian weaponry is quite inferior. In fact, the only weapon the Yolkians have at all are electromagnetic staffs and I have heard rumors that an electromagnetic spear is going under research. However, the more senior and experienced of the Yolkian officers almost always carry their Poultratos Blade, a 'sword' as you Earthlings call it. In fact, it's not very different in design from your 'broadswords' minus the fact that electricity circulates around the blades much like the staffs."

"What do these 'Senior Yolkian Officers' look like?" asked a general next to Jimmy who he recognized as being the General Kang from that morning. "What does their armor look like?" he clarified.

"Their main armor is what you Earthlings call 'black' while the arms and shoulder pauldrons are our Imperial Green," Ibsol replied. "They should also have a circular shield that was originally a spoil of war from 8,000 years ago, colored red."

Shaojia nodded as he looked over at General Tian who nodded. A silent message was just sent, Jimmy observed as Shaojia asked the Yolkian defector and informant. "How does the Yolkian army fight? Do they line up in a straight line and charge, do they try to surround and overwhelm, or do they just fight on their own like tribesmen?"

"More or less, they line up in long, linear formations and charge," Ibsol replied.

Shaojia sighed as he looked over at the rest of his colleagues. "Just like L-15," he muttered, though loud enough so they all could hear. Angry grumblings and exasperated arm flinging was the response to his statement. He turned to Ibsol. "Sergeant, you are dismissed." Ibsol nodded in compliance and left. After he left, that's when all Hell broke loose.

"So let me get this straight!" yelled General Tsung. "We're going to fight hand-to-hand when we don't have to?"

General Li jumped out of his chair and was in General Tsung's face so fast it made Jimmy's head hurt. "Don't forget that we tried that tactic in L-15 and it cost the Enforcers 15,000 of the best damn soldiers you will ever lay your eyes on! I just dare you to tell me that we should do the same damn thing again!" Right now, the two generals were glaring at each other so intensely that everyone else thought that the very fabric of existence itself would rip into tiny little pieces.

Tsung strengthened his glare and Li did the same. "Regardless, that was in the past! Right now, we're facing a different enemy! This is a new ball game, Li!"

"I don't give a damn!" Li roared back. "A new enemy doesn't mean a new game! We're still fighting a primitively armed advesary. I knew some of the men you sent to their deaths with that bonehead order of yours!" Jimmy knew Li had struck a nerve when some of Tsung's glare lost some of its malice only to be transferred to his hand which balled up into such a tight fist that the knuckles turned white.

Luckily, Shaojia intervened before things came to blows. "Gentlemen! We are here to discuss the war plan. If you two are serious about coming to blows, I'll schedule a leitai match for this evening but considering the fact that we need all the men we need and that the Yolkians will undoubtedly launch a larger fleet to try and destroy us, I suggest that both of you sit down and shut up!" The two generals looked down in shame and mumbled half-heartedly as they went to sit down. "Now, it may seem smarter to use firearms against this type of advesary, but only at a distance. Don't forget that we have the repeating crossbow, fire-arrow launchers, and not to mention fire-lances. At every battle, we'll have our archers and our artillery open up on those bastards and when they're withing 50 meters, we charge the ever loving Hell out of 'em."

"But sir," General Song asked, "Those repeating crossbows have a very limited range."

Shaojia raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "You haven't heard? Lab 52 has made a new model a few months ago. Basiclly, it works like normal, but the lever that you pull to load the arrow will now load and fire automatically. They installed some type of gunpowder canister at the butt of the arrows, now made of solid metal. Our crossbows pack one hell of a punch, almost as deadly as a bullet, but there's just enough gunpowder to give it an extra zip; we can still use them to shoot into the air as a siege weapon or a type of carpet bomb." Everyone in the room looked around in approval of this strategy.

"So when will we be moving into Yolkian territory?" Cindy asked.

Everyone looked expectantly to Shaojia who made a motion to Jimmy. Jimmy closed his eyes in deep contemplation. The war will be fought hand-to-hand, that was almost certain. In addition, he didn't know if any of he'll even have anything close to an army after tonight. It was settled, then. "I'm ready to go to war. The Yolkians have captured my parents and are holding them hostage. We don't have any time to lose. But, I'm pretty sure that I'll have a lot less soldiers by tonight. A lot less. I think that we should either send an Advance Party to shaken the Yolkians up a bit or just send what's left of my soldiers to a base or something so they can train without harm or rush."

Shaojia grinned in pride and respect for his, more or less, protege. "Well done. But instead of deciding upon two plans, let's just do the whole damn thing."

Jimmy nodded in realization. "So you're thinking that we should send all of the other ships through that worm hole to try and establish a foothold on Yolkian soil while this particular ship stays until all of my soldiers are filtered out and sent to some training area off-ship?"

Shaojia shook his head. "No sense in letting your guys miss all the fun. I think it's safe to assume that Yolkus is a fairly large planet. All large planets have at least one moon; Earth has one, Jupiter has 15 or 16, and I remember that a certain planet in L-5 had an entire asteroid belt of moons around it. We move in, we use one of CelestiCorps magic tricks to put an atmosphere around a moon or asteroid, we drop off your soldiers, and we send all of mine to war." Heads shook in approval of that plan. "And if I recall, you never actually answered Colonel Vortex's question," Shaojia reminded.

Jimmy smirked. "Gentlemen and lady, I say we invade the Yolkian System tonight."

* * *

Nick was sitting at a lunch table with his four new squad mates, all of them wearing that funky Chinese armor. Suddenly, he felt movement under his feet, kind of like the feeling you sometimes get when a car starts to move. "What was that?" he asked Mao, his squad leader. 

Mao just waved it off. "It's just the engines. Looks like we'll be heading to battle again pretty soon."

Nick nodded his head cooly. "Oh... that's cool."

* * *

Eustace mumbled angrily as the two Yolkian Guardsmen, their armor a shiny green color with purple pauldrons, tried to help him walk to the bridge of Goobot's ship, _Poultra the Magnificent_. The dart attack to the shoulder from that Asian mercenary had since been treated by Professor Calamitous, who walked alongside him, chastising and teasing him all the way. 

"So, my boy, Neutron bested you again, eh?" the professor teased as his own robotic escort followed, their robotic foot steps making loud, _CLANK CLANK_ noises while triangular heads swiveling about as their hands gripped tightly onto their laser pistols, capable of melting through everything short of reinforced titanium.

"Oh shut up, you vulgar little man!" Eustace bit back. "Somehow, Neutron has assembled a master army that bested all of the Yolktars on my ship and destroyed many more."

"A master army you say?" Calamitous said more seriously. "Mechanical I assume?"

Eustace shook his head. "No, human. But frm what I can see, they fight as if possessed."

"Hmm," was the thoughtful response. "Troubling indeed."

Eustace nodded. "And worse, I have the sinking feeling that I shall those fiends again very soon."

* * *

**Afterthought:**

(Everyone is gathered around a hospital bed.)

Author: (In hospital bed with cast around arm) Well, that was a bad idea.

Jimmy: And so was the idea to have that Verification Clause Act... thing... My army is small enough as it is.

Shaojia: On the bright side, there are more of your soldiers that will get to wear these post-war T-shirts. (Holds up T-shirt that reads in big, bold, black capital letters, "I survived the war!")

Libby: Hey, they're blunt _and_ stylish. I'll take three. (Gives Shaojia 20 bucks)

(Shaojia gives Libby the T-shirts)

Shaojia: Anyways, it looks like you're really ready to right a big battle scene real soon, huh?

Author: You bet. I'm fixing on having it before Chapter 11.

Jimmy: But... this is Chapter 10...

Author: I SAID BEFORE CHAPTER 11!!! SHUT IT OFF!!!

(Author shakes his fist violently at the others, causing him and his hospital bed to flip over)

Author: Can someone help me up? ... Please?

Cindy: Nah, I think this way's better. There's no way for you to hurt yourself anymore now.

(The camera switches back to Author who is now cured of all injuries and is riding around on a scooter swinging a sword around like a madman)

Author: Tally hos! To Camelot!

Libby: I think that flip flipped his brain off.

Author: Now we go to Ollie Whitman for the weather!

Carl: (In very deep voice) It gonna' rain!

Jimmy: Yep, he's lost it.

(Author comes upon a stairwell. Due to his being on a scooter, he can't stop in time and flies into the stairwell. His cries are heard as he falls down the stairs)

Author: Argh! Oof! Ja! Youch! Ow! Ah! Agh! Ooh! Ouch! Help me God! Help me Jesus! Help me Oprah!

(Oprah Winphrey with a cape comes swooping down but is shot down by Shaojia with a rocket launcher. Everyone stares at him. Author can still be heard crying out in pain in the distance)

Shaojia: What? Blowing things up is fun. Idonthaveaproblem!!!

Cindy: O...kay... Now let's all sit down next to the fire and cozy up with some Reviews.

Jimmy: Cindy... the last review we got was for Chapter 8.

Cindy: Oh... that sucks...

Author: (Pop out of nowhere) SO'S YOUR FACE!!!


	11. Siege of Poultra's Crown

**Chapter 11:**

**Siege of Poultra's Crown**

(Subtitles for Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'

_SOUND EFFECTS_

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**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron.**

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_"They say that fighting a war is a lot like running a business. They say you'll have your good days, your bad days, and then your just plain boring days where nothing happens. Well, I'd rather be a store owner than a general. If you're a store owner and you make a bad decision, more often than not you'll end up losing quite a bit money; if you're a general and you make a bad decision, you'll end up killing everyone under your command." _

_--Gen. Wang Shaojia; Excerpt from the Thermopylae Address given on August 25, 2000_

* * *

Jimmy worked tirelessly going over the Verification Clause papers. So far, he had lost everyone in his army except for the navy personnel, the communications specialists, and 25 soldiers, which included Sheen, Cindy, Nick, Butch, and the 10 other soldiers that had gone with him on the raid. He slammed the last paper face down in a pile with the others who chickened out of the war. 'But who could blame them?' Jimmy thought as he looked at his watch. '10:29,' he read silently. 

He got up to stretch a little. It had been several hours since the meeting over the war plans was over, but only three hours since Goddard had passed out the flyers. Now, Shaojia's ship_, The Fury of the Gods_, was sailing around Yolkian space like the others in the impressive W-12 fleet. During the time that had passed, the entire armada had been in that strange Yolkian wormhole which was still open since Shaojia had insisted on having it close to Earth so that Enforcer back-up units can respond if neccessary in case any Yolktars the raiding party probably missed tried to take control of the ship. Besides, how else would they get home?

He looked over at the radio Shaojia had asked one of his soldiers to bring him. Jimmy had then asked Libby to tell him if anything important has happened. Apparently, all was clear along their galactical Potamac as the radio had yet to activate, and he had already checked to see if it was on as well as fully functioning.

Cindy walked into the room, a silk night gown gracing her heavenly figure as she walked into the room. Young as she was, she was at that age where the hormones started causing reactions in the body. Jimmy knew. After all, his report on the subject to Cambridge University, Stockholm, and Beijing Medical University was well received and was highly praised along with his report on combustion engies, rocket-propelled bikes, and the patent on his cheese ray gun.

"Rough day at the office?" Cindy joked as she went to sit next to Jimmy scooting her chair very close to him.

Jimmy appreciated the comforting gesture and sighed as he rubbed his temples a little. "The results could have been better. We're down from 188 ground troops to 25 ordinary foot soldiers. Not even any of the Scouts stuck with us. We've gone from army to militia in less than a day on Jupiter."

'A Jupiter day...' Cindy thought as she tried her best to remember how long that was. 'Oh, that's right, it's 10 hours. Wow, Jimmy really hit it right on the money there.' "Well, at least there's less chance of any of our friends getting hurt."

Jimmy nodded. Before he could respond, however, the radio crackled to life for the first time today. Through the static, he could hear Libby's voice. "Jimmy, Jimmy, are you there?"

Jimmy walked over to the radio and picked up the speaking part of it. "I read you 5-by-5, Libby."

A slight pause. "Uh... whatever. I think you should get up here now! There's something you may want to see."

Jimmy nodded. "I'm on my way." He looked at Cindy. "You may want to get dressed first," he pointed out in amusement. Cindy blushed and nodded, scurrying over to the Magic Wardrobe Machine, as dubbed by Sheen. Jimmy looked at his watch. "This is gonna' be a long night."

* * *

"This is gonna' be a long night," Shaojia muttered as he and Meiling, who was with him in his Meditation Chamber when Libby radioed him, rode the lift up to the bridge. Soon enough, the lift stopped and the two stepped onto the bridge, amazed at what they saw on the tactical computer's screen. Though their fleet was hidden from the Yolkian's view by the thousands of asteroids floating slowly and aimlessly around Yolkus in random patterns, thanks to their Recon Probes, they were able to see hundreds of Yolkian ships engaged in ship-to-ship combat with another group of Yolkian ships, this one small compared to the Royal Yolkian Navy. Instead of a otherwise conventional naval battle, both warring Yolkian parties just let out wave after wave of Yolkians to fight each other and try to board the enemy ships to cripple it from the inside, not unlike the encounter a few hours ago between Earth and Yolkian forces. 

Shaojia walked up to Rear Admiral Huang and Libby. "Sir, we have Admiral Gao on hold," reported Rear Admiral Huang. "He wants to talk to you."

"Like Hell he does," Shaojia muttered as he turned back to Meiling. "Meiling, go to sleep. It's going to be a very long night." Though she would normally protest, she knew better than to argue right now so she made her way over to the lift.

Before she could press for the lift, however, it came with Jimmy and Cindy on it. The two walked onto the bridge as Meiling trudged unhappily onto the lift and keyed for the Officers Quarter's Floor. "So what's the problem?" Jimmy asked, not yet seeing the live footage of the battle. Shaojia then noticed the file of papers he had under his arm.

Ignoring it for now, Shaojia pointed at the computer screen. "Right now, I don't really think that it's our problem."

Jimmy and Cindy both looked at the computer screen in shock. "Wow..." was all they could mutter as tiny explosions dotted the 'battlefield' each time a Yolkian exploded exploded from another's attack

Jimmy turned to Shaojia and asked, "So what's the plan?"

Shaojia turned to Rear Admrial Huang who nodded. The rear admiral entered a few commands into the tactical computer and another screen jutted out from the left of the original screen. On it was the face of a man with an admiral's insignia on his dress cap. "General!" the admiral saluted.

Shaojia returned the salute. "At ease, Admiral." He stepped aside slightly to allow room for Jimmy to move in.

"General," the admiral asked. "What is our next course of action?"

Shaojia thought a bit. Jimmy took that time to put his two cents in. "I think we should have this ship make base camp on a big enough asteroid that's far enough from the Yolkians."

Shaojia nodded. "I agree; if we try to get onto a moon, we may risk being detected by the Yolkians. Some of my men are a little tired after today and another battle is not what they need."

Admiral Gao nodded. "Indeed. But what of the rest of the fleet? Should we attempt to make base camp as well?"

Shaojia and Jimmy both looked at each other on that one. Shaojia answered this one and said, "Negative. Once the bell for the First Post goes off, I want all other ships to make course for the Yolkian capital. The quicker we lay siege to it, the better." Shaojia looked at Jimmy for approval. Jimmy nodded his consent after a second of analyzation. Capture the cities and try to move towards the Yolkian capital. "But for right now, I want you to send out recon probes to see where teh capital is."

Admiral Gao nodded in acknowledgement. "I'll tell the rest of the armada, sirs." Jimmy turned to Shaojia. "What now?"

Shaojia looked at the bridge personnel. Almost all of them were the N-12 naval personnel that had gone with Libby into the navy. Now, they were tired and looked about ready to turn it in. Shaojia turned to Rear Admiral Huang. "Rear Admiral, where's the stand-by crew?"

"Just preparing for their graveyard shift," Huang replied. "They're probably either fooling around in the game room or having a snack in the mess hall."

Shaojia nodded. "Good. Get your crew and have them cover for Admiral Folfax's crew. They've earned a night's rest."

The rear admiral nodded and marched towards the lift. Jimmy then took the inititiative and told Libby, "Admiral, you and your crew are dismissed for today. Get a good night's sleep. I have a feeling that we'll all need it by tomorrow." Libby gratefully nodded as she and her crew tiredly saluted and marched onto the lift as well.

Cindy looked at Jimmy and smiled inwardly. 'He really has gotten use to this. I have to say, Jimmy, you are one heck of a man in that uniform.' "Hey Jimmy, it's kind of late."

Jimmy nodded. "Go ahead, I'll catch up to you." Cindy started walking over to the lift while Jimmy walked over to Shaojia who was still working on the computer console. "Hey, Shaojia, can I talk to you?"

Shaojia nodded. "It's about that Verification Clause?" he guessed.

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah; I only have about 25 people left in my army, but on the bright side, I still have the communications crew and the naval crew."

Shaojia just shook his head. "Damn shame. Oh well, nothing we can do about it. Whoever shows up for training tomorrow will be either the bravest people I've ever met or the stupidest."

Jimmy nodded and headed towards the lift. He then noticed that Shaojia was still typing away at the computer. "You're not turning in yet?"

Shaojia shook his head. "Not yet. I need to man this post until Huang gets back with the night crew. They usually come in at midnight, but we need them a little early tonight."

Jimmy nodded, understanding the necessity for the bridge to be manned while it's floating pretty close to thousands, maybe even hundreds of thousands of asteroids. As the boy genius stepped onto the lift, it descended. 'And so comes a close to Day 2 of the war,' Jimmy thought wistfully.

* * *

Jimmy tossed and turned as he lay in his bed. 

_**--Jimmy's Dream--**_

_Jimmy swung his captured electrostaff in a wild arc as he fought his way through the crowd of Yolkians. So far, he and his party, which consisted of Cindy, Sheen, Nick, and Butch, had fought up the winding path that led to Goobot's stronghold. With one last strike, he could clearly see Goobot now, with 40 Yolkian Officers surrounding him, their electroblades shimmering with deadly electricity._

_Though he didn't even recall giving an order, he and his party all chucked their captured electrostaffs at the Yolkian officers at the same time. Though that did little to even the odds, the resulting explosions did a tremendous role. After the smoke and fire cleared, all that was left was Goobot and 10 officers._

_As if an imaginary green light had clicked on, both sides charged each other, Jimmy's party drawing their own electroblades, since captured from the group that had tried to stop them at the bottom of the path. Jimmy charged and sliced at the nearest officer and swiftly quicked it into another before it exploded, taking its comrade with it. Out of nowhere, an electroblade came down on his head. Luckily, he was able to see it and blocked it, saving his own life._

_Jimmy looked at his attacker. Goobot... Jimmy angrily batted away the Yolkian king's weapon and sliced at him with his own. The two met in another sword lock, the blades sparking electricity wildly. Another parry and then antoher. Eventually, Jimmy found himself backed up against the edge of the cliff the stronghold was so conveniently built on._

_In a wild desperation move, Jimmy forced himself forward with his blade, shoving Goobot back as if he were a football player. Goobot was struck with shock and couldn't react as Jimmy gave one last, forceful shove that knocked Goobot almost to the edge of the other side of the cliff._

_Enraged, Goobot looks around until he spots Cindy, who has just kicked a Yolkian officer off of the cliff. Jimmy's eyes widen. _

_No. Oh God no._

_Jimmy tries his best to stop Goobot but he wasn't fast enough. In one clean swipe, Goobot stabbed Cindy in the heart. Jimmy felt his knees weaken before tumbling onto the ground. Through tear-blurred eyes, he could just barely make out the image of Goobot's blade coming down on his head and a dark cloud floating up in the sky..._

**_--End Dream--_**

Jimmy sat up straight in his bed with a gasp, a cold sweat covering his body. He looked at his clock. '6:36:' he noted. It was early, but he had gone to sleep at around 11 which meant that he had slept for about 7 and a half hours. More than enough for the human body. It was also early enough where he can attend his class with Shaojia. He got up from his bed and went to the bathroom, careful not to wake Cindy who still slept softly. He cringed as her fear and pain struck face from his nightmare came back to him.

As he washed his face, he tried not to think about his dream but that didn't help at all. He looked at his face in the mirror and sighed as he leaned onto the counter. 'I haven't even been in a real battle yet, and already I'm having nightmares. Maybe Shaojia has some insight to this.' He shook his head and used the twoel to dry his face after he brushed his teeth.

When he stepped out of his room in full military uniform, he saw Shaojia stepping onto the lift, a cup of Jasmine tea held tightly in his hand as steam rose from it, indicating a very fresh batch. Jimmy thought to himself. 'Hmm, maybe I should consider getting some armor for my soldeirs too. After all, I don't think Recruit uniforms are going to protect against much.' He decided against it though and went into the meeting room to grab himself a quick bite to eat, preferrably a cereal bar.

After getting onto the lift, his cereal bar wrapper disposed of in the conveniently placed garbage incinerator beside the lift, Jimmy sat in the corner of the lift as it began to descend. That dream --'No,' Jimmy thought, 'nightmare'-- had really scared him. As a scientist, he knew better than to seriously think about such nonsense as premonitions, but with the entire Enforcer business in general, from the gods running it to the occasional demon working in it, he didn't know what to think now. Sure, his beloved science still affected everything, matter was matter, atoms were atoms, but now came what could probably classified as category in science he knew absolutely nothing about except from myths and legends from ancient yet unreliable folk tales: the Supernatural.

That meant the whole business about ghosts, phantoms, demons, an afterlife, deities, premonitions, gypsies, wolfmen, cowmen, goatmen... all of it had a very fair chance of being very real. For all he knew, Bolbi, the foreign exchange student from Backthereistan who was now a Communications Specialist, could be a deranged goat spirit, though that probably wouldn't be much of a stretch.

Jimmy rubbed his teples vigorously in a futile attempt to drive all of these thoughts out of his head. Soon, the lift came to a halt and he stepped off of it. He looked around at the gym; though it was still pretty early in the morning, Shaojia's soldiers were all milling about, training with some of his own soldiers (or rather, what was left), though they weren't as enthusiastic. It was understandable, though; no one wants to get up at 6 in the morning everyday.

When he came upon the entrance to Shaojia's Meditation Chamber, he saw that the 'door' was open. Inside, he could see Shaojia practicing one of his dao forms. He watched in amazement as Shaojia jumped into the air, turned, and impaled the imaginary foe behind him even with the seemingly restricting, clumsy, and heavy armor. Shaojia landed with an audible _CLANK_ as the armor plates brushed beside each other. Jimmy stepped in just as Shaojia sheathed his sword.

"You're awake," Shaojia stated, wiping off the thin layer of sweat that had accumulated on his forehead.

Jimmy clasped his hands and bowed like the people he had seen in Kung Fu movies do. "Do you think that you can train me again today?"

Shaojia looked over to the radio he had placed with his cape, his jian, his dao, and an old, rusty revolver. "Unless that thing sounds, sure."

Jimmy grinned eagerly and unbuttoned his uniform and took off his dress cap, tossing them into a pile next to Shaojia's things. Those would be a hinderance in the training, he knew. "So, what's the plan for today?"

Shaojia smirked as he walked to one of the walls and his hand lay on a keyboard-like apparatus that jutted out from the wall. "Live combat." He turned his attention to the keyboard and a large section of the wall slid open, like a Japanese slide door. Out of the 'doorway' came two mechanical mannequins, both with the same sensor markings as crash dummies.

"What?!" Jimmy asked incredulously as the two robots began to circle him, both assuming a simple street thug's brawler stance.

Shaojia scoffed. "Relax. They're set on 'brawler' difficulty meaning they fight like your average street thug or alleyway drunk. This will tell me what I need to work on with you without you getting seriously injured in the process."

Jimmy didn't even have time to say a single word before one of the robots lunged at him like a drunk bar fighter. Behind him, he saw the other robot try to club him in the back of the head. Jimmy rolled out of the way as the blow went passed him while the lunging robot flew over his head. Taking the offensive, he tried to roundhouse kick one of the robots, but he threw himself off balance slightly and that took away some of the power of the attack. The kick did land however, and the robot jerked backwards slightly.

After recovering from his own mistake, Jimmy squared himself towards his two opponents, both back up to their feet. Then, the two robots charged him simultaneously. Not knowing what to do, Jimmy just jumped to the side like a matador would to a bull causing the two robots to whiz past him. When the nearest robot tried to turn around and give Jimmy a mean backhand, Jimmy ducked under the attack and uppercutted the robot in its 'chin.' Surprisingly, the robot went down and presumably for the count.

His celebration was cut short, however, as the other one shoulder charged him to the ground. Jimmy rolled over, trying to use his momentum to his advantage. His plan succeded as he became out of the remaining robot's range of attack after the shoulder check. As soon as Jimmy got back to his feet, though, the robot was closing in on him. Thinking fast, Jimmy did the other technique Shaojia had taught him that day, the side kick. Shifting his front-most foot so that it was turned to the side opposite his other leg, he brought his knee up like a front kick and extended it out fully until it connected with the 'stomach' of the robot. His inexperience at the technique and his hasty use of it threw him off-balance, though, landing him flat on his hind. On the bright side, there was no way that the robot was getting back up again, so it was alright.

Jimmy panted in exhaustion as he saw Shaojia looking at the two robots before nodding in approval. "I have to say, good job even though you only had one lesson."

Jimmy cracked a half-hearted smile. "I prefer to watch rather than do anything hands on, but I guess I did do pretty good, huh?"

Shaojia nodded. "More or less, you're better than some of our pilots, I'll tell you that. Most of those Fly Boys punch like 3-year-old girls compared to their counterparts in the army."

Jimmy sat up straight and asked, "Hey, do you think you can show me how you fight? Like I said, I learn with my ears and eyes. Sometimes when I jump into something too hands on, I don't do it right."

Shaojia raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "I've never heard of anyone learning like that, but hey, what do I know? By most universe's standards, I have a 6th Grade education." He walked over to the computer and punched in a few more commands. Now, instead of two mannequin robots, there were five. However, they all assumed the same brawler stance as Jimmy's opponents. "Well, if you insist that this is the best way for you to learn, than watch and learn."

Jimmy nodded and sat cross-legged as the five robots began to circle Shaojia. He watched as Shaojia assumed a rather unusual stance: his right foot was forward but the toes pointed up so only the heel touched the ground, his back leg was bent almost parallel to the ground with most of his weight on it, and his hands were bent at the elbows and his hands in a pincer-like shape ent at the wrist. All in all, he looked like the human version of a praying mantis.

Then, the robot directly behind him tried to charge him, but Shaojia simply adjusted his footing and used his right leg to deliver a backwards sidekick (**A/N: Called a back kick or mule kick)** at the robot's head that was so powerful that it caused it to do a semi-backflip. At that same moment, the robot in front of him attempted to bum rush him only to meet a similar fate when Shaojia stepped down using his kicking leg, stepped forward (away from the attacking robot) with his left leg, lifted his right leg, and swung his left leg in a spinning roundhouse kick that knocked the attacking robot into a cartwheel like motion.

His assault not over, he used his kick's momentum to continue spinning until he had gone in a 360 and when Shaojia's right foot touched the floor, he elevated it so that he was balanced on the ball of his foot, swung his left leg in a low sweep and knocked one of the remaining robots off of its feet. Then, Shaojia planted his left foot firmly onto the ground, lifted his right knee and delivered a sidekick right to the throat of another robot. Finally, he stepped back into a similar stance as when he started the 'match' only with his left leg forward instead of his right.

The one remaining robot, desperation overtaking its processing unit, charged Shaojia with a fist. Using his pincer-shaped hands, Shaojia's front-most hand struck out to block the attack with the wrist, moving it away frm Shaojia's body before the 'pincer' opened and his hand grabbed onto the robot's wrist. Then, he used his opponent's own momentum to pull his back leg up into a knee strike into the robot's chest while his other hand, still in its pincer-shape, rammed the bony part of the mantis fist, the knuckles, into the robot's artificial head where it bent at an extreme angle at the neck. As a finale, Shaojia tucked his knee back into his own chest and delivered a powerful front kick/foot shove to the chest of the robot, sending it sprawling backwards. He then stepped back into a relaxed stance.

Shaojia looked at Jimmy skeptically. "Now, I'm pretty sure that that little work-out couldn't have taught you anything; Hell, that was done at an intermediate level, something I'd expect from some of my younger students."

Jimmy stared at Shaojia in shock as he glanced at his watch. That entire thing only took Shaojia 13 seconds, mainly because he waited for the robots to attack him. "That was fast," Jimmy muttered.

Shaojia scoffed. "Trust me, when you've trained as long as I have and have been in as many wars as I have, everything you do will look fast to everyone else. War is like a fast-paced sport like basketball or hockey. To the spectators, sometimes it only takes about an hour or two, but to those involved, it will take almost forever."

"It must just be the adrenaline," Jimmy stated, his scientific habits kicking in once again.

Shaojia nodded. "In either case, that didn't really teach you anything. So, I guess we'll be doing this my way. Now, first thing's first. Let's work on your horse-riding stance."

Jimmy nodded as he got up and assumed the stance. Even though the pain was excrutiating, he knew it would be worth it. He hoped.

* * *

Cindy's eyes fluttered open slowly She looked at her clock which read, '7:30.' Afterwords, she looked around the room as the after-efects of sleep began to wear off. Instantly, she noticed that Jimmy wasn't in his bed. 'Where's Jimmy?' She shook the feeling aside. Obviously he had gotten up early and was in the meeting room eating breakfast or something. Getting up from her bed, she left to wash up in the bathroom. 

Ten minutes later, she left the washroom refreshed and ready to meet what the day had in store for her. After putting on her military uniform, she exited her room and walked over to the meeting room. Upon entering the room, she looked around expectantly for Jimmy only to find that not only was he missing, so was Shaojia. "Hey, where's Jimmy and Shaojia?" Cindy asked as she went to si down beside Meiling who was the only one in the room at the time.

"Probably down in Shaojia's meditation room," Meiling replied, taking a sip of tea. Though the taste was a tad bitter, she had made it anyways because she knew that Shaojia enjoyed winding down after a hard hour or two of Kung Fu with a cup of tea.

"Why?" Cindy asked as she went to get her a breakfast bar; nothing too fancy, she knew she had to be ready to help Jimmy out with the army even though there were only 30 soldiers left.

"Well," Meiling said as she took another sip of the tea, still questioning Shaojia's tastes, "the other day, I was bored, went down to Shaojia's chamber to see if I could borrow a weapon to practice with. Well, when I got there, I saw Shaojia teaching Jimmy Kung Fu."Cind almost laughed at the thought of Jimmy, first place science fair winner for 4 years in a row Jimmy, rocket scientist Jimmy, inventor Jimmy... Then again, he had grown up quite a bit in the last few days. 'I just hope all this army stufff doesn't go to his head.' She shook her head. "Cindy?" Meiling asked when she noticed that Cindy's eyes had become unfocused. "Are you all right?"

Cindy shook her head as if to clear her thoughts and answered unsteadily. "Yeah, I'm fine, just... before Shaojia joined the Enforcers, what was he like?"

Meiling thought a bit. "Well, he was... basically, he was the same guy; he cared for the well-being of those that he was technically in charge of, he took charge only when things weren't going smoothly, and he viewed everything from both the business and moral sides. He hasn't changed much except for the fact that he's become utterly ruthless and merciless to the enemy while he's like a saint to his own men."

"What do you mean by 'ruthless?'" Cindy asked as she ate her breakfast bar tentatively.

"Well, and this is only from what I've heard since Shaojia absolutely forbids me from stepping foot off of W-12 territory, he becomes utterly homicidal and murderously vicious when he attacks the enemy," Meiling replied. "In fact, he has the lowest POW rating out of all of the other Enforcer leaders who have some type of 'Geneva Convention' thing set up and has the highest kill count, 8.9 billion. The most prisoners he ever had was 10." Cindy sighed and laid her head on the table. "You're worried that Jimmy might turn into some monster because of this war, right?"

Cindy looked at the younger girl and nodded, wondering how she knew. "I just don't want Jimmy to become something he's not."

Meiling smiled sadly and went over to Cindy. "Don't worry, he won't; as long as he has something to let all of his feelings out on, he'll be fine. Older Enforcers have been known to drown their war-sorrows in alcohol, Shaojia has his Kung Fu, and I'm sure Jimmy has something too."

Cindy smiled and nodded. "Hey, do you think we can see the boys practice?"

Meiling nodded. "Come on, I'll show you the way." She picked up the traditional Chinese tea kettle and answered Cindy's raised eyebrow of perplexion. "Shaojia likes to use tea with a hint of ginseng to calm his body after his practice."

Cindy just shrugged and stepped onto the lift, followed by Meiling. An uncomfortable silence set in and Cindy was eager to break it. "So," Cindy started, "since Shaojia's not in charge of the Northern Chang Empire, who's running it?"

Meiling shrugged. "Even though Shaojia tells me not to, I still go by the tea house down in the Central Market Area of Tienshang to hear with the village elders are gossiping about. Last I heard, former-Secretary of War Sun Longnan just got assassinated by some of his rivals from Southern Beijing. So now, the Northern Chang is still leaderless."

Cindy looked at the younger girl standing in front of her as the lift continued to descend. Even though she was about a year younger than her, around the age of 11 or maybe even 10 still, Meiling was almost as smart as her, not academically of course but wisdom wise. "So I guess that would that Shaojia may want to consider taking back his throne, huh?"

Meiling just sighed as the lift stopped. "If it was only that easy." The two walked off of the lift and Cindy had no choice but to follow Meiling, seeing as she knew the way to Shaojia's meditation chamber and Cindy didn't. "Shaojia is pretty stubborn about going back and he and I usually talk about his taking back the throne but we both already know that... he has a bit of history with the politicians in the Imperial City. Really, I just want to push him to come to a decision he won't look back on and regret"

Cindy nodded, yet her confusion drover her onwards to ask, "Has... Shaojia ever told you about what happened... you know... to his mom and dad?"

Meiling nodded and kept walking in silence. Cindy thought she had said something wrong and was about to amend herself when Meiling replied, "I... think that it's better if you hear it from Shaojia. He told me, but he didn't go to a lot of detail." Meiling took a deep, long breath and continued. "Well, if you still want to know, the gist of it is that the Northern Chang officials were mad at Shaojia's father, Emperor Wang Quanjia, because they thought that Shaojia's father was going too easy on the Southern Chang for seceding from the Northern Chang. In fact, there had been no military resistance at all from the Northern Chang."

"So the officials killed him and his wife?" Cindy summarized, though incredulously. In the US government, the officials would only yell at the president and try to talk things through, but never physical force. "Isn't that a little extreme?"

Meiling shrugged. "Eh... like I said, you should probably ask Shaojia about that." Cindy nodded thoughtfuly and dropped the subject as a platoon of soldiers marched passed them by with their qiang in hand, the commanding officer of the group barking out parade ground orders to them.

* * *

Shaojia downed what was left of the tea he had brought down earlier. So far, Jimmy's training was going quite smoothly. Though Jimmy wasn't exactly at the best of physical shape, only capable of doing ten push-ups before his arms gave out on him, which he supposed was normal for a scientist from such a peaceful realm. 'In fact,' Shaojia thought jokingly, 'you kind of get used to it after a while.' He chuckled silently to himself. 'Pssh, that is, after you get used to all of the aliens running around trying to blow shit up...' 

Meanwhile, Jimmy was attempting to perfect a kicking combo Shaojia had told him to do which comprised of a front kick, stepping forward with his kicking leg, a roundhouse kick with his other leg, and then stepping forward with that leg before skipping back a few feet so that he could do it all over again. So far, he had done about 42 of the combos and looked quite tired. "Alright, that's enough. Come over here and meditate; deep, slow breaths, in through the nose, out through the mouth, and try to use the diagphram to breath and not the lungs so much."

Jimmy cocked a quizical eyebrow but his tired and energy-deprived state of mind made any form of relaxation seem pleasing. Jimmy sat kneeled down and sat on his haunches, folllowing Shaojia's orders and breathed as he was told. Jimmy was amazed at how crisper the air actually was, how more refreshing it was. 'After the war, I should consider taking a mini-vacation to W-12 to check out how the fabled Ancient Chinese sciences and medicines actually were,' Jimmy dully noted as the thought drifted to the back of his mind while Shaojia got up and went over to a Grandfather clock with a more Oriental feel to it.

Shaojia examined the clock's face and nodded. It read, '7:45.' Shaojia looked over to his weapons racks and grabbed the rope dart off off it. Basically, the weapon was what it's name implied, a long length of rope with a small, sharp dart attatched to the rope by three rings that the rope passed and looped through into a knot. A small, red sash was tied to the ring farthest from the tip of the dart's tip. Shaojia played with the dart aimlessly before dropping the dart to the ground but holding onto a certain area of the rope so the dart only dangled from the floor. Shaojia kicked at the dart a little before winding his foot around it slightly and kicking his foot our, thus sending the dart into action. When the rope grew taut, Shaojia retracted it, grabbed the butt of the dart and put up the weapon. He looked back up at the clock which still read, '7:45.'

Shaojia sighed in exhasperation and looked over at Jimmy who was now sitting cross-legged leaning over himself in an exhausted manner. "Go get yourself some water; you look like you're about to drop dead and I can't have that, especially in a war." Jimmy nodded gratefully and rushed out of the still-open entrance to the meditation chamber. Shaojia sat down and meditated quietly for about two minutes before he heard footsteps stepping on the cement/steel floor of the ship's gymnasium. Shaojia opened his eyes and saw Cindy and Meiling coming his way. Shaojia got up to greet them, vaguely hearing a crack in his back as he stood up. 'Gods I must be at least as old as my father mentally,' he mentally noted. 'By this war's end, I should have myself a couple gray hairs.'

"Morning, Shaojia," the girls greeted as they walked into his chamber.

Shaojia only nodded as he went over to hook his cape back onto his armor, atttatched his swords to his waist, and shoved the old revolver, a trinket he had retrieved from the body of an old comrade a few years back and had saved his life a few times afterwards, on the other side of his waist, opposite his swords. "Morning."

"Hey," Cindy began, "where's Jimmy?"

Shaojia looked out the door. "You just missed him. I sent hom out to get himself some water before he dehydrated himself."

Cindy nodded and eyed all of the weapons on Shaojia's weapons racks. "Are all of these weapons yours?"

Shaojia nodded. "The blacksmiths in the W-12 Enforcer District are the best of the best; their dullest blade can still cut through a block of cement like butter." He picked up a guan dao, a Chinese halberd that was basically a staff with a sword melded to one end, off of a rack and spun it around a little. "Hey Cindy, I read in your file that you took a few years of Tae Kwon Do and Tai Chi Chuan, am I correct?"

Cindy nodded, not exactly comfortable about that type of information being on a file so easily accessible by other Enforcers. Or was it just high ranking ones like Shaojia and Jimmy? That last thought made her a little nervous. "Yeah; I like to think that I'm pretty darn good, too."

Shaojia nodded and put the weapon back on the rack while Meiling moved to where the radio was and sat down, knowing that something was about to happen. "Really now?" Shaojia asked coyly, beginning to circle the young girl. "What's your rank?"

"Uh, I'm a black belt in both," Cind answered nervously. 'What's with the 20 Questiona?' she thought to herself.

Shaojia nodded as he accepted the answer. "The N-12 Enforcer Legion needs training," Shaojia said as he stopped circling Cindy. "I want you to train them."

Cindy nodded in confusion. "I guess I could."

"That's just what I wanted to hear."

"Huh?"

Shaojia smirked at Cindy's preplexion and his grin grew wider as he saw Jimmy walking back from the watering hole by the track. "Some time today, I'm going to get a message from the bridge stating that they have found a big enough and stable enough asteroid in which to make a temporary base camp for all of the N-12 soldiers. They will stay there until they are trained properly. I need some people to stay behind with them to train them. I am now going to give the two of you a choice," he motioned to Cindy and Jimmy. "You can either go with me and my men to the Yolkian surface and go right into battle, or you can stay with your own soldiers and train them personally, along with Major Weezer, Admiral Folfax, and Sgt. Nravalok. The only people from your universe I will allow to go to war immediately along with you two are Private Dean, Private Pakovski, and Major Estevez. They've proven themselves as battle-strong individuals that I can trust to not get killed the moment we hit the ground. Even if you decide to go with me and my men, your own soldiers will still be educated in the Art of War, just by scheduled computer programs and simulations." He then motioned for Meiling to come with him as he picked up the radio. "Meiling, let's go." The girl followed him out the door.

Cindy and Jimmy both looked at each other. "So, what do you think?" Jimmy asked as he sat down next to his army jacket. "Stay with our own troops or go straight into battle?"

Cindy lied down next to Jimmy, laying her head on his lap as she groaned from the headache the intense thinking was giving her. "I don't know... I want to free our parents, but I don't want to leave some of our friends behinds. Libby, Britney, Amber, Carl, even Ibsol... I just don't know what to do."

"Cindy, I think that we should go to war immediately," Jimmy finally answered after a few minutes of quiet contemplation. "Our parentss lives are on the line, and this way, less of our friends will get hurt, I think it may be for the best."

Cindy sighed in acceptance of Jimmy's logic. "I guess you're right. Still, I can't help feeling a little sad that we're gonna' be the only familiar faces we'll ever see in a while. I miss the old days. Ms. Fowl's endless lectures, Principal Willoughby's constant praise of our skills... I miss it."

Jimmy smiled sadly. "Me too... me too..."

* * *

Shaojia stood at the bridge while Meiling stood by his side. All around him, Admiral Folfax's crew was working diligently under Admiral Folfax's command, trying to locate a big enough and far enough asteroid/moon/floating wad of compact rock that they could make base camp on. Shaojia looked out of the viewport. Before turning in with the rest of his crew, Rear Admiral Huang had written a short report stating that around midnight, the smaller fleet, which was more than likely the Rebel Yolkian Navy, had retreated after a company of Royal Yolkian soldiers infiltrated a ship and sabatoged it, causing it to explode with the kamikaze aliens still inside. The Royal Yolkian Navy then descended into the confines of their own planet while the Rebel Yolkian fleet fled to a reportedly abandoned and tiny planet about 25 astronomical units away frm Yolkus. 

Shaojia looked out the viewport as the Yolkian sun shone a bright yellow light on them. As instructed, Admiral Gao had told the rest of the armada to attack the planet and Shaojia could barely see the wedge-shaped ships that were docked Enforcer battleships that encircled a rather large part of the planet, maybe covering 1/4 of the entire planet. That had to be the Yolkian capital. Shaojia looked over at a report that Libby had given him earlier that he had yet to inspect. Flipping it open, his suspicions were confirmed. It was the Yolkian capital, Poultrakinatsu or 'Poultra's Crown.' The invasion of Yolkus had began roughly 2 hours ago and the fighting had yet to start. And that was a blessing.

"Hey, I think I found one!" a bored N-12 ensign said excitedly as she sat upright in her seat, her computer screen showing a green targeting reticule focused on an asteroid. She had the attention of the entire room. "The computer says that it's about the same size and shape as the Moon."

Shaojia, Libby, and everyone else in the bridge walked over to where the enisgn was and looked over her shoulder. "Good God... good job, Michelle!" Libby congratulated as she looked over to Shaojia. "I think that it's perfect, uh, sir."

Shaojia nodded and looked at Libby. "Well, what are you waiting for? That rock smells like home to me, but we won't get there unless someone presses the big red button." He pointed to an actual red button on the far left side of the main compter's station panel.

Libby remembered from her book training that the red button was the Atmosphere Generating Missile, a 'weapon' that when shot at a planet or other heavenly body it does one of two things. If the mass already has an stmosphere, the missile becomes a planet killer that strengthens the galactic mass' atmosphere to the point that the amount of ozone in the air causes an intense scene of global warming that vaporizes the planet within a more or less circular inferno balloon. If the mass has no atmosphere, an Earth-like atmosphere is created, enabling human activity on the rock's surface without the need for spacesuits. It would also create a small Enforcer stronghold on the heavenly mass.

Libby nodded and pressed the button. A slight rumbling was felt when a large missile was shot out of the nose of the battleship, making contact with the planet the ensign had targeted. A bright light engulfed it and slowly disappeared. Now, what was once a gray and lifeless rock was a grass-covered rock with a few trees here and there. Yes, the dead rock had been turned into a mini, ocean-less Earth thanks to the magical powers of the gods. It was so amazing and unbelieveable that if the event was told in detail to anyone that hadn't been on the crazed mission as long as everyone else in the bridge, the entire tale would be as farfetched as a second-in-command of a world superpower 'accidentally' firing a shotgun into his friend's face while hunting for quail of all birds. "Wow," was the comon phrase that escaped the agape mouths of the naval staff.

Shaojia looked at the asteroid-gone-planet before saying to the naval staff, "Alright, let's bring this bird down." Shaojia then pressed the big blue button to the right of the big red button and the entire ship became engulfed in white light. After a few seconds, the light dissipated. Shaojia looked outside the viewport. They had made contact with the asteroid's surface, a grassy plain with a few sparse pine forests. What was most noticeable about the surface was the giant fortress that stood there, imperiously glaring at all in its vicinity. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Installation Alpha."

* * *

After deciding that they would be going to war as soon as possible, Jimmy and Cindy had decided to work on their strength and endurance for the battles ahead. So that's what lead them to where they were now, with a couple of borrowed qiang stabbing at targets while a squad of W-12 soldiers watched. So far, Jimmy was doing surprisingly well, stabbing and pulling his qiang quick enough so that he could do it again. In the few minutes he and Cindy had been at this, he had calculated that his ratio of stabs per minute was 122 stabs per minute. Cindy's on the other hand was 157 stabs per minute. 

Then the floor shook and the gym was engulfed in a white light. Seconds later, the light dissipated and everyone in the gym found themselves looking around in confusion.

Jimmy and Cindy soon found themselves walking to the lifts to see what was going on. "What do you think happened?" Cindy asked as the lift grew closer.

Jimmy shrugged. "Well, I've noticed that everytime CelestiCorp technology is used, a white light is emitted, so I'm guessing that's the case. I'm sure that any second now we'll hear something over the PA system explaining this."

Sure enough, the PA system sounded, but with a message that neither of them truly expected. "All N-12 personnel report to Docking Bay Beta immediately, I repeat, all N-12 personnel report to Docking Bay Beta immediately. In addition, all W-12 military personnel report to Docking Bay Alpha immediately. I repeat, all W-12 _military_ personnel report to Docking Bay Alpha immediately. That is all."

As soon as the two officers stepped onto the lift, it descended, leaving them in a state of bewilderment.

* * *

Nick was standing in one of the neat lines the General Tian had told him and all of the other people he knew to form. At the front of the formations was Major Estevez, Major Wheezer, and Sgt. Nravalok. Beside him, Butch was looking around under his hair which covered the front of his eyes. "Hey, what's this all about?" his friend asked as a lift descended and General Wang stepped off of the lift along with that girl that always followed him around and the naval crew. The navy staff assembled in line alongside their army and communication counterparts while Admiral Folfax went to sit with the higher ranking officers. 

"Look's like we're 'bout to find out," Nick said nonchalantly.

As General Wang stepped up to a podium that was at the front of all of the formations with a few chairs situated behind him for a few other speakers, Nick assumed, he looked around while everything was still calm. Unlike the other docking bay, which was filled with fighters and the like, the one they were in now contained a mixture of Ancient Chinese artillery pieces and transport shuttles that would take them to the surface. On two sides of the bay, there were 'portals' that allowed entrance and exit of craft. As of right now, these portals were opened and revealed a grassy surface. The sounds of birds chirping could be heard as crisp and fresh oxygen filled the room instead of the filterized and artificial air the ship produced due to the life support systems.

Meanwhile, up on the stage, General Wang and Tian exchanged a few words before sitting down in the seats behind them. Seconds later, a W-12 soldire wearing some weird samurai armor ran into the room with a file in his hand. The soldier ran up to General Wang, saluted sharply, and handed him the file. General Wang looked over the file briefly before dismissing the soldier with a wave of the hand. He shook his head angrily before slamming the file closed.

Nick gulped inwardly. 'This ain't gonna' end well...'

* * *

"What did it say?" General Tian asked as Shaojia sat down beside him. 

Shaojia just kept shaking his head. "Absolutely nothing," he muttered bitterly. "The mercs were absolutely useless; all we got out of them was a shoe size."

"All brawn, no brains?" General Tian asked.

Shaojia shook his head. "They're actually pretty smart, but Strych usually leaves them out of the loop when he's talking with Goobot and Calamitous."

"A three-headed menace," General Tian mused quietly. Shaojia nodded. "Well, what about the butler then?"

Shaojia paused before looking back into the file. "Well, nothing too helpful for our war effort; just a pin number to Strych's Swiss Bank Account and a security code to Strych's residence. All in all, we probaby have access to over 5 billion dollars in cash."

General Tian closed his eyes. Instead of him answering, however, Jimmy, who had arrived a few second before with Cindy, answered. "We could always buy our way into negotiations."

Shaojia chuckled as he turned his attention to Jimmy while Cindy went to sit down beside Libby and Meiling. "Depends how much money 5 billion American dollars are worth in Yolkian currency." He then reassumed his more serious demeanor. "How much did you hear?"

"I just came in now," Jimmy stated before adding, "but I'm guessing that we didn't get much from our prisoners?"

Shaojia nodded. "You guessed right. We have absolutely nothing that can help our war effort. We're still in the dark on what our enemies really have at their disposal. I guess we'll have to fight this war the old fashioned way after all; no recon, no intel, no eyes."

Jimmy nodded as he looked over what had originally been the whole of his army and their family.. Everyone that had been in Retroville all those days ago was there. Everyone from his school was there. That made him shiver. The very thought of one of them never stepping foot into Retroville Primary and Secondary School (formerly Lindberg Elementary) ever again was just too much to bare. The realistic probablity that none of them would just made him sick to the stomach. His nightmare from before swirled in his mind before he shook his head slightly. Jimmy looked over to Shaojia.

"You know, I'm kind of glad that none of them have to fight anytime soon," he muttered as Shaojia walked up to him.

Shaojia nodded. "I know what you mean. But you can't keep them out of this war forever. Eventually, they're going to finish training and it is their right is natives of this universe to right the wrong done to them by the Yolkian Empire."

"But what if one of them dies?" Jimmy asked. "How am I going to tell their parents?"

Shaojia stayed silent. After a moment, he replied quietly, "You won't have to." Before Jimmy could ask for an explanation, Shaojia continued. "Are you and Cindy going to stay here?"

Jimmy shook his head. "No; we both decided that we might be able to help end the war quicker so the others don't even have to fight."

Shaojia nodded his head and motioned towards the podium. "Then I think that you should make the announcement."

Jimmy nodded and swallowed the lump in his throat. He stepped up to the podium. "Attention!" All of his soldiers snapped to attention immediately. Jimmy smiled ruefully. 'This isn't going to be easily.' "As you all know, we are going to war wth the Yolkians as soon as possible. Well, last night was possible. Right now, we are in the Yolkian Star System, or more precisely, on a brand new installation. We have found an asteroid to make our main base called..." Jimmy leaned over to Shaojia and whispered something before turning back and saying, "...Installation Alpha." Now came the hard part. "As of right now, none of you are going to war." A cry of outrage spread across the formations as the remaining N-12 soldiers believed that they wouldn't even get to battle now. "You're all too inadequately trained!" Jimmy yelled over the complaining and whining. All o fthem fell silent at Jimmy's sudden burst. "If I let you all go now, you will all die! I don't want that. Only some of you are barely qualified to go to war and come out in one piece. As far as I'm concerned, this war is only to get our parents back. There's no need to get them back if they have nothing to come back to! I know you're all upset, but imagine your mom and dad! They'd be scared to death if they heard that an army of kids from Retroville was fighting their way to the Yolkian capitol." Jimmy paused a moment to recollect himself from his own burst of emotion. "What I'm saying is that only when you've shown me that you can fight are you allowed to fight. Now, General Wang will announce who has been allowed to go to war."

As Jimmy stepped away from the podium, Shaojia passed him to go to the podium. Cindy put a reassuring and comforting hand on his lap while Shaojia announced the only soldiers that will immediately see action. "Major Sheen Alonzo Estevez, Private Second Class Nick Giovanni Dean, and Private Butch Leanord Pakovski, meet my men and your new comrades in Docking Bay Alpha. You wil be shipped out ASAP." Shaojia glanced over to Jimmy who still looked a little worn out from having to yell over the outraged cries of his friends and classmates. "As for the rest of you, exit the ship immediately. Outside of this ship you should see a large fortress. Seek refuge there and follow the instructions of the automated programs and instructors. If you follow them exactly, you shall see your share of the war within two weeks. If you have any questions, I hereby appoint Admiral Folfax as the sole commander of the fort. For those of you no longer in the N-12 Enforcer Legion, you shall assume a normal life. Play games, sleep, talk, what you'd usually do. I don't care anymore." With that, he saluted sharply before pointing his hand out towards one of the exits. "Dismissed."

Reluctantly, all of the N-12 citizens and soldiers filed out of the docking bay. Meiling walked up to Shaojia and asked tentatively. "What do you want me to do?" Meiling asked.

Shaojia just looked at her intensely. "You are going to stay in my chamber. I have a loaded pistol in a drawer in my desk. Go only from the meeting room to my chamber. Stay here and be safe."

Meiling opened her mouth to protest, but the fire in Shaojia's eyes made her think better of it. Tears in her eyes, she ran to the lift as quickly as possible. Watching the whole thing, Jimmy wouldn't figure out who had the worse end of the deal, her or Shaojia who was just shaking his head sadly. Seconds later, Nick and Butch approached Shaojia and Jimmy. "So, what's the plan now, Generals?" Nick asked with his usual cool drawl.

Jimmy squared his shoulders like he saw Shaojia sometimes do when he wanted to assert authority and looked pointedly at Nick. "The plan, Private, is to not get killed. Once the entire ship has been cleared of all of the other kids from Retroville, we'll be taking off and heading straight for the Yolkian capital."

"How long will it take?" Butch asked in his bullying voice. One swift glare from Shaojia made him add, "I mean, uh, if I can ask, uh... Mr. General, sir."

Shaojia looked at Jimmy, then to the two privates, and then to Sheen and Cindy who had walked up to them in the meantime. Taking a deep breath, Shaojia replied, "It could take up to a year. If the Yolkian army is truly weak as they were against us on their ship, it could take up to two weeks. I saw the Yolkian capital from the space map; it's huge."

"It doesn't have a lot of flat fighting plains like on Earth," Jimmy added. "Do you think that might be a problem?"

Shaojia sighed and put his Chinese war helmet on. Unlike the other one, the more modern one, this one was more like a Greek Corinthian helmet, but with a more Oriental feel. Shaojia's eyes pierced through the little slits and he fianlly said, "If they narrow our lanes, we'll have to narrow their lines."

* * *

General Tsung Wulong stared at the lines and lines of Yolkian soldiers more than 2 football fields away from his position. There had to be thousands of them against the maybe 12,000 of his division, an accumulation of military crews from the 4 ships that had landed near his. All around the Yolkian capital, Poultra's Crown as it is supposedly translated in English, the scene was the same. Yolkians, sometimes alongside divisions of the mysteriousYolktars, stared across a plain of green, alien soild that felt more like gravel to him. Both sides waiting for their highest leader to arrive and wave the red flag of war. 

Tsung scoffed as he looked past the Yolkian line and at the city the aliens were so ready to defend, a utopia of flying vehicles and immense skyscrapers that should be more appropriately renamed as 'star-touchers.' The largest one, a giant chicken-like palace/spire that overlooked the entire city, was more than likely their objective. From space, it seemed as if they had to cover the entire American state of New Jersey in order to reach their destination.

A rustling at the back of the Yolkian line of defense as soldiers parted to make way for an odd contraption being transported by the same hover technology as the Yolkians it seemed. On top of the floating platform was a television-like screen that soon sputtered to life, revealing a Yolkian with a rown and cape, its armor indicating royalty to even the most unsophisticated eye.

"Who dares to lead this fighting force upon the surface of the Blessed Planet of the Yolkians, home of Her Holiness Poultra?" the alien, presumably King Goobot if the briefings were correct, demanded.

Tsung was about to answer when the radio that a soldier he had ordered to bring with him sparked to life. "All officers, what is our status on Yolkus?" General Wang asked.

Tsung scowled at the sound of his 'superior' officer's voice. Tsung grabbed the radio angrily and growled. "We are waiting for the other side to attack. Right now, there is a video-dummy of the Yolkian king and he wishes to speak to our leader. Do you wish to speak with him?"

"Show some respect!" General Li yelled at him as his voice came in through the radio. 'That's the problem with this type of radio,' Tsung thought. 'It's so easy for someone to butt in on a conversation.'

"Forget it, Li," Wang said. "We have to make this as short as possible. Tell Goobot to wait and I'll be down on the surface as soon as possible. Someone mind saving me a parking space?"

"Sir," someone else reported, "Brigadier General Yao speaking. There are only three ships that landed in my sector. I would gladly appreciate it if you would like to make my sects force a division."

"Granted, General, ping me your coordinates and I'll be right there. Just tell your boys to keep their helmets down; I'm going to land a mile from your position to save time. General Wang, out."

Tsung exhaled in exhasperation as General Wu said over the radio, "General Tsung, since neither General Tian nor Grand General Wang are present, I believe you are the most senior of staff, albeit by a few days for some. What say you tell our alien friend that Hell will arise soon?"

Tsung merely grunted an affirmative before stepping from his line and said to the Yolkian king, "Your Highness, we are the Enforcers. We are the Will of the Gods. And when our leader arrives, which should be very soon, we will see what shall happen. But for now, I suggest that you just wait. After all, annihilation can't be something that one would look forward to."

The alien king merely smirked. "We shall see, Earthling." Then, the communication went blank.

* * *

After killing the communications, Goobot roared in rage, grabbed his custom crafted Poultratos Blade and swung down on the floor of the war chamber of his palace. "Temper, temper," his ally, Professor Calamitous commented. "Now, I'm sure that your army can handle a bunch of juveniles and adolescents. Oh wait, they couldn't even handle them when they first met you all of these years ago." 

"SILENCE!" Goobot roared as he pointed his blade threateningly at the tiny professor who was now in his robotic suit of armor. Nonetheless, the blade's shimmering, blue sparks of electricity caused Calamitous to take an involuntary step back. "I shall not have you insult me within the confines of my own palace!"

Calamitous raised his suit's hands in mock-defense. "I meant no offense, my alien ally. I was merely reminding you of a past defeat, that is all."

"Then what do you propose we do?" Goobot spat.

The professor smirked within his armor. "Send my own amry into battle. I will show you what cold, hard, machinery can do. Sentient soldiers are somewhat flawed; they can get tired. Machines can fight for years."

Goobot nodded. "Granted. Leave my palace and spread your army along the front. By the way, where is Young Strych?"

Calamitous grinned menacingly. "Him? Oh, he's in his quarter resting. I propose that he be our first line of defense if Neutron and his allies somehow breach your lines. I shall be right here to lend a hand if need be."

Goobot nodded with equal maliciousness. "Fetch the boy then proceed as planned, _General_ Calamitous. The leader of Neutron's allied army shall be here shortly."

* * *

Jimmy, a Chinese qiang gripped in both hands while a dao stayed strapped to his waist beside his captured Walther P38, looked around as he, Cindy, Sheen, Nick, Butch (all with a qiang, dao, and sidearm combo as well), and Shaojia stood in front of the 3,000 W-12 soldiers that were once the passengers of the _Fury of the Gods_ which was now about a mile back from their current position. They had made it to the frontlines and were now just about lined up with the three other groups of soldiers, 3,000 each. Meanwhile, the bands from each group collaborated near a small hill a mile or two away and plaid a faint war hymn. 

**(A/N: Go to** '**m u s i c b y . j w - m u s i c . n e t / m i d i . p h p ? c r i t e r e + f i l m & l a n g + u s' and scroll down near the bottom until you find the link titled 'Droid Invasion and The Appearance of Darth Maul' beside a title called 'Star Wars: Phantom Menace.' I think it's very fitting.)**

Jimmy then looked at the Yolkian force before him, maybe thousands of Yolkians along with about half as many Yolktars. Meanwhile, out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shaojia conversing an officer with an insingia similar to his except with only one star under the dragon, the insignia more or less branded into both shoulder pauldrons.

Then, movement from ahead caught Jimmy's attention. A large mass of foreign combatants was gathering nearby the Yolkian battle group. Squinting his eyes, Jimmy caught the gleam of sunlight on metal. 'Robots!' Jimmy cried mentally. He then thought back to Goddard, who he had decided to leave on the ship to help protect it a little. Focusing his thoughts on the here and now, Jimmy assessed the situation. Up ahead were probably Calamitous' robots, looking to be a force of 10,000 along with maybe 50,000 Yolkians and 25,000 Yolktars. On his side of the battle meridian, there were about 12,000 W-12 soldiers plus 5 kids from his universe, including himself.

Jimmy looked over to Shaojia who was looking in the same direction he was a few seconds ago. "What do you make of it?"

Shaojia shook his head. "We wait until Goobot decides to talk. Maybe there can be a negotiation, but nothing very likely. We don't have anything to give them except for a punch in the eye, a kick to the crotch...-place, and a boot in their corpse."

"Look, up ahead!" Cindy cried from Jimmy's right as she pointed at a levitating TV screen that appeared to be approaching them.

Automatically, some of the soldiers began to lower their qiang in the attack position, spears forward instead of upwards, their feet spread as if to charge. Shaojia held up a hand, his dao in hand, and shouted, "Hold your positions!" Reluctantly, the soldiers stepped back into formation, though, Jimmy noticed, Shaojia merely relaxed his arm, letting his sword fall to his side while his grip remained tight.

The hovering monitor sputtered to life and the image was of King Goobot, Eustace Strych, and Finbarr Calamitous (in his robot suit). "Greetings, Jimmy Neutron," Goobot spat as he intensified his glare at the boy genius. I assume the fellow next to you is your new ally?"

Jimmy nodded while Shaojia and the others watched the exchange. "I think that you may want to surrender, Goobot! Your city is surrounded. Your fighting against soldiers trained by the gods themselves. You can't win. Surrender and give my people's parents back to us. Then, we will leave and we can put this all behind us. Just don't try to attack my people any more."

Goobot laughed uproariously as did his two assosciates. "Please, Neutron! I do not fear you! You are nothing but a tiny human boy! If you seek war, let there be war! Besides, what makes you think your parents are still alive? Muhuhahahahahaha-" The communication cut off abruptly as the bullet from Shaojia's revolver pierced its screen, causing it to explode and bits of shrapnel to rain all over the place.

Shaojia looked at Jimmy who was very shaken up by the last bit of information along with the others from retroville. Were there parents even alive? Had they come all this way for nothing? Shaojia cleared his throats. "If what he said is true, take vengeance. If he is bluffing, teach him to put his money where his mouth is. Either way, he had signed his own death warrant." He then turned to all of his soldiers and said into the radio before yelling loudly to the soldiers currently in his command. "Archers and artillery! Step forward! Blot out their sun with firelances and arrows!"

At his command, the archers and artillerymen stepped up from their positions behind the primary infantry. He looked at Jimmy and the others before nodding to Jimmy who got the silent message. Taking the radio from Shaojia he said into it and to the soldiers, "FIRE!"

A roar was all that was heard as arrows flew from their bow while spears with rockets attatched near the tip were launched from bamboo tubes along with their larger counterparts, large anti-air mortar-like cannons that launched about 20 rocketes a shot. The soldiers proved Shaojia's prophecy as for a moment, the volley actually did blot out the sunlight that would have shown on the opposing army. Explosions went off everywhere as the volley made contact. And that was just the first volley for as soon as the projectiles flew, the soldiers loaded the next round. Up ahead, in the enemy line, the Yolkians, Yolktars, and WarBots charged. Many of them, mostly Calamitous' robots, were cut down by the openly volley while more were cut down by the second, the rest dreading the third, fourth, and so on.

Jimmy and the others watched in morbid fascination as the archers began to run out of arrows and artillery their rockets. But by the time this had happened, after a total of 20 volleys, the total force of 85,000 enemy units had been reduced to about maybe 50,000. Shaojia waved his sword in the air in a circle. "Archers! Artillery! Fall back! Infantry, to the front!" Shaojia then looked to Jimmy as the transition was made behind them. "You ready?"

Jimmy looked at Cindy, Sheen, Nick, and then Butch before answering, "As ready as I'll ever be."

Shaojia smirked and waved his sword forward. "CHARGE!" The stampede of bloodthirsty feet was all that could be heard as both sides closed in for their first real fight. As the sounds of feet trampling across the Yolkian surface, the cries of battle ringing in his ears, Jimmy couldn't help but allow his nightmare surface to the front of his mind. As the Yolkian front grw closer, he lifted his qiang and charged harder, passing up even Shaojia who watched him make the first real kill of the day. The first real kill of the Siege of Poultra's Crown.

* * *

**Afterthought:**

(Author, Jimmy, Cindy, and Shaojia are sitting around in a circle in chairs in nice suits and dresses. There is a sign behind Author's head that reads: 'The Afterthought')

Disembodied News Guy: May 8, 2007. Enforcer News Network presents: The Afterthought. Hosted by: Author A. Authorson, James Neutron, Shaojia Wang, and Cynthia Vortex.

Author: Good day, readers, and welcome to another session of, 'The Afterthought.' As always, I am Author Authorson and my co-hosts, James Neutron, Shaojia Wang, and Cynthia Vortex. Let's get on to business. Now, Jimmy, what did you think of the latest chapter of 'Military Science.'

Jimmy: Well, for one thing, I thought it was a stupid idea for you to turn the Afterthought into a news session.

Author: You know what? Fine!

(Author snaps his fingers and they are now on a hill overlooking the Siege of Poultra's Crown)

Author: Happy?!

Shaojia: (Ducks incoming arrows) Agh! No!

Author: Graghat!

(Author snaps his fingers again and they are now in a giant Buddhist temple)

Author: What about now?!

Buddhist Monks: (Walking by) Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Cindy: Eh, it's-

Monks: (Walking by again) Hummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm...

Cindy: Uh, as I was saying... It's better than-

Monks: Mayweatherrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

Author: Oh... Dear... Gods...

Monk: (Pops out of nowhere) You mean, oh dear Buddha!

Author: AAAAAHHHH!!! (Punches monk)

Shaojia: That's gonna' have some serious repurcussions.

Author: Oh, what's the worst that can happen? Are they going to chant me to death? Hahahahahahaha! Ahahahahaha- (A giant gong falls on him from the sky)

Shaojia: I warned him.

Cindy: (To readers) Well, that's the end of another installment of The Afterthought.

Jimmy: So readers, remember: Rethink. Reuse. Recycle.

Cindy: We will be kind, we will rewind.

Shaojia: And if you don't want anymore crappy cliffhangers, you will review.


	12. Operation: Eviction Notice

**Chapter 12:**

**Operation: Eviction Notice**

(Subtitles for Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'

_SOUND EFFECTS!_

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron.**

**

* * *

A/N: For simplicity's sake, all dialogue in Chinese is gisted at best from an internet dictionary. I was too lazy to ask my grandpa to proofread my pinyin. I do not highly suggest seriously studying any of the words below as Chinese. Words in pasts chapters however are correct. Also, the idea for the translation of the Chinese dialogue in subtitles in parenthases like in the movies is just a trial idea. If you don't like them, tell me. **

* * *

_"When you go into battle and find yourself staring down the shaft of a spear, the blade of a sword, or the barrel of a gun, don't think. Don't fear the enemy. Don't laugh at the enemy. Don't even try to think what the enemy's next move is. Don't do anything. Just kill him and move onto the next one." --Grand General Arnold Q. Gantry of G-14._

_

* * *

_

Goobot monitored the battle closely as he, Calamitous, and Young Strych stood in the war room of his palace. They were watching the battle on the 'yolpokiri' or 'King's Eye.' The yolpokiri was a simple metallic surface that projected a holograph of a live image via video stream. Right now, the invading force, 'Enforcers' as they called themselves, whom had surrounded Polutra's Crown, was slowly pushing back the legions and legions of Yolkian soldiers. In addition, there space transports had launched thousands of smaller vessels that attacked the Yolkian Navy as they were trying to take off and land behind the line of the Enforcers. So now, the Yolkian Army was being massacred, theYolkian Navy had been annihilated, and the Yolktar Breeding Chambers couldn't keep up with the fighting. Even the Yolktarian Juggernauts were being massacred as Goobot noted one such beast fall at the hands of the supposed leader of the Enforcers that brandished an odd projectile weapon in his hand. 

Goobot growled in rage as the Enforcers were coming close to entering the 75th Ring of Poultra's Crown after about 5 hours of non-stop fighting. Unlike the other cities on Yolkus which were much like the city that his foe Neutron inhabited, Poultra's Crown was a city composed of 'rings' that were more or less circular streets that encircled the city with several roads leading in and out of them like spokes on an Earth tire and each ring was higher than the one that encircled it, making a stair-like image. On the Outer Rings (75-51), the rings were just ordinary streets with the simple farm here and there that grew and planted yok-lot, a gooey and mushy plant that could be made into a fine and sweet dessert when thoroughly blended. On the Middle Rings (50-26), the Yolkian trade ports and open-air markets thrived with Yolkians happy to earn a living, but because of the fighting, no trade was going on and the Yolkian trade was suffering because of it. In addition, many star systems that usually traded with Yolkus that had heard wind of the war on Yolkus, of the supposed 'Warriors of the Gods,' now refused to trade with Yolkus unless the Yolkians surrendered. Also, the systems that ignored the war had their trade ships turned away by an Enforcer blockade.

Then came the Inner Rings (25-1) which contained all of the government buildings, business headquarters, and the homes of Upper-class Yolkians and of course the Royal Family and Staff. In the center of the rings, like one huge bulls-eye, was the Yolkian Royal Palace, a government building that also was a monument to Poultra.

Goobot turned to Calamitous and yelled, "Your robots are worthless! According to the yolpokiri, the enemy has suffered less than 4,000 while our combined forces are falling by the tens of thousands! They've almost infiltrated the city!"

Calamitous, still in his suit of robotic armor, accessed his latest invention. Out of his right robotic arm, a small, metal rod, about a foot long, shot out of his wrist. Grabbing the rod, he pressed a red button on the side of it and a blue blade of crackling electricity shot out of the rod. "I'll decide when they've gone far enough. It is quite amusing watching children attempt to lay siege to this utopia of yours." The profesor waved his blade of electricity over the map. "But when they do get to the point of being actual nuisances," the professor sneered, "just leave them to me."

* * *

Jimmy was so tired that he could barely even feel the pain in his extremities as he continued to follow his new battle strategy which he had developed 15 minutes into the battle: kill anything tht isn't humanoid. Jimmy sliced another Yolktar's power cell, which he found was in the front of the armor, with his sword, his qiang long gone after having to throw it at one of Calamitous' 6 ft. tall WarBots to keep it from killing Nick, before kicking the soldier-turned grenade into the legs of a Yolktarian Juggernaut, taking the monster down along with a few Yolkians near it. He then stabbed his sword into the ground before kneeling down to take a breather and do what he did best, think. 

It had been 5 hours since King Goobot had told them that his parents may already be dead. The thought was enough to enrage Jimmy to the point of near homicidal insanity as he cut down Yolkian after Yolkian after Yolkian. The adrenaline only lasted so long, however, as he began to grow more tired after the third straight hour. He looked around in an attempt to identify any familiar faces as W-12 soldiers passed him by to push the Yolkians even further back. He saw Shaojia waving his sword forward in an attempt to spur his soldiers onward. He then saw Nick, Sheen, and Butch fighting back to back, trying to support each other while one rested before rotating roles. Jimmy quickly drew his Walther P38 and fired off a round at a Yolkian trying to sneak up on Sheen who was now resting. The Yolkian fell to the ground dead as the bullet pierced the clump of dark green matter that was supposedly the brain. Sheen was oblivious to how close he was to attack. Jimmy smiled weakly as he then spotted Cindy nearby, her hair flowing freely as she used her Tae Kwon Doe training to combat the Yolkians, taking three Yolkians down with one powerful, well-placed roundhouse kick.

Jimmy picked himself up and walked over to Cindy as he shot blindly into the lines of Yolkians that were attempting to regroup hlaf a mile away while the Enforcers gave pursuit like wild hell-hounds. Eventually, the gun refused to fire anotehr shot and Jimmy knew that it was empty and seeing that he had no Walther P38 ammo, he chucked it after calculating the proper trajectory at a Yolkian, shattering the dome and lodging itself in the alien's brain. Soon enough, he met up with Cindy who was now resting as the Yolkians began to retreat and form a long wall-like line. From far away, he heard Shaojia rallying his own troops and getting them back into formation. He walked up to Cindy and smiled. "Well, looks like we made it through the first 5 hours," Jimmy commented, surprised to hear his own voice after so long.

Cindy sighed in relief and looked up at Jimmy before her legs began to buckle because the constant fighting had worn her out a bit, as it had for all of them. Jimmy acted quickly and let her fall on him before supporting her and helping her up as she put an arm around his neck. Then Jimmy saw the real reason why her legs gave out; somewhere along the line, something had given her a nasty gash on her leg. The wound was fresh, Jimmy concluded, as blood was still pouring out of it despite the electricity that should have sealed it up. Cindy followed Jimmy's gaze and explained, "Oh, it's nothing. I just wasn't looking and a Yolkian officer got me in the leg with that electrosword of his." She then smiled and showed him the sword in her hand. Instead of the dao, which was still in her sheath at her waist, she was brandishing a captured Yolkian electrosword. She smiled impishly as she waved it around. "Got him back, though."

Jimmy shook his head as he helped her walk to the formation. "You're hurt," he whispered as his nightmare once again swirled to the forefront of his mind. He cried out into a small formation of soldiers frantically. "Medic!"

He then saw a soldier with a medical kit that was helping attend another soldier with a serious electrical burn on his ribs come over while his partner attended to the soldier alone. "Yes sir!" the medic barked as he saluted.

Jimmy started to lay Cindy down, much to her protest, but at the sight of Jimmy's concerned gaze, Cindy fell silent. "Attend to Colonel Vortex, please."

"Yes sir," the medic replied before taking a look at the wound, cleaning it, prepping it with disinfectant, and wrapping it up with gauze. "Looked pretty bad, sir. Her reflexes may be lacking because some of the nerves were fried, but she should be okay. What happened anyways?"

"I got cut open by one of those electroswords," Cindy answered as she looked back up to Jimmy who was watching as the formations began to grow larger until they began to look like they did at the beginning of the battle. "I can still fight, can't I?"

Jimmy looked back at her as his nightmare continued to flash in his mind. "No!" Jimmy said abruptly as he took a sudden step back, drwaing curious looks from Cindy, the medic, and a fgew soldiers nearby. His hand flew to his head as he tried to regain his composure. "I mean- What's the prognosis?"

The medic looked at Cindy and then back to her wound. "Well, she can walk. I can get her back to fighting shape if you want, though; a shot of Vitanucleatic Acid should do the trick. Perfect for this type of wound. No side-effects except for maybe some nausea and fatigue which, if it even does, should occur in a few hours."

The medic handed a bottle of the acid to Jimmy as he prepared a hypothermic needle and Cindy's leg for the shot. Jimmy tried to analyze the name of the acid. "So this thing is supposed to use 'nuclear therapy' to improve health?"

The medic shrugged as he took the acid from Jimmy. "It's from the CelestiCorp Medical Department, uh, Lab 7 I think. It's safe, if that's what you're wondering, sir. Aside from the chance of nausea, no bad sife-effects."

Jimmy looked to Cindy who looked back pleadingly, her face clearly begging to be let back to the front. Jimmy nodded as he grabbed Cindy's hand to comfort her. "Administer the drug."

The medic nodded and injected the needle right through the bandages. Cindy bit her lip and tightened her grip on Jimmy's hand as the needle went in. Immediately, the wound glowed white before it faded and the medic took off the gauze. Now, the wound was no more except for a few specks of dried blood on Cindy's pant uniform. Jimmy helped Cindy up to her feet before dismissing her to the front. Jimmy nodded his thanks to the medic before following her.

When Jimmy finally got to the front, he once again assessed the scenario. To his right, Shaojia was standing with his dao in hand, glaring in hatred at the enemy about half of a mile away. To his left, Cindy stood on her own two feet, her previous injury now a thing of the past. Her captured electroblade was grasped tightly in her hand. Farther to his left, past Cindy, stood Nick, Butch, and Sheen, all of them holding onto their qiang tightly.

Jimmy then focused his gaze on the Yolkian forces and what was left of the Warbots half of a mile away from them. They were lined up in perfect lines though some of the Warbots did have a couple of holes and dents from spear stabs and clubbings that didn't hit anything major. Behind them, the outlines of the giant city called Poultra's Crown seemed to taunt him as they appeared to grow more distant.

Shaojia walked up to Jimmy and asked him, "How's your group?" Jimmy could hear the bitterness in Shaojia's voice as the young general looked at the medics who worked as hard as they could to help the Enforcers that had fallen behind them. Jimmy followed his gaze to one particular scene. A medic was setting up a field IV while another was attempting to resuscitate an Enforcer who appeared to have been punched by a WarBot or Juggernaut. In either case, the Enforcer appeared to have suffered from a collapsing lung and a crushed esophagus. A loud screech was heard as the portable EKG unit the medics brought along flatlined as the the soldier stilled and then died. Shaojia closed his eyes, sighed, and then opened them again, appearing a lot angrier.

Jimmy finally answered Shaojia's question as he noticed the medics taking a large white sheet out of an archaic doctor's bag and drape it over the corpse before moving on, almost mechanically, to the nearest soldier who appeared to have been shot in the chest by a WarBot's laser.The soldier was alive but definitely not well as he was screaming at the top of his lungs in pain only to scream from the pain caused from his scream of pain and so on and so forth. "All of us survived. Cindy got a nasty gash on her leg, but a medic injected her with some of that 'Vidanucleatic Acid' stuff, and now she's fine. How come... how come it didn't save that guy?"

Shaojia shook his head as he stared at the same scene Jimmy was staring at. Now, the medics had propped up another IV but before they could even begin to assess the damage, all parties involved knew the soldier was going to die like the other one. "Because," Shaojia finally answered, "it isn't strong enough and too much of it would still kill him. Either death by injuries or death by overdose."

Dropping the depressing subject, Jimmy pointed at the Yolkians, Yolktars, and WarBots standing in a long line of metal and death. "What are we going to do about them?"

Shaojia shrugged. "The old family strategy; offer the chance to surrender. If they choose not to, they die, if they do, they'll be arrested and in this case, probably sentenced to up to 50 years of punishment in Hell." Without another word, Shaojia made true to his word by calling out the head Yolkian officer. "Yolkians! You have fought well but you are no match for the Enforcers. Surrender or die." The Yolkian officer answered by throwing his electrostaff like a javelin at Shaojia who could barely respond fast enough to side-step the attack, grab the spear, and chuck it back at a Juggernaut that crushed a few of its comrades upon its death. As the coup de grace, he then shot the offending officer in the face with his M9. "So be it! Archers! Artillery! To the front!"

At that order, not only did the archers and artillerymen advance, Jimmy observed, so did the enemy as they charged the Enforcer line. It was a horrible result for the Yolkians as they were cut down by rockets, arrows, and firelances which were soon accompanied by bullets as the front-most Enforcers began to fire upon the attacking aliens and robots as they were slaughtered from above. Jimmy grimaced as a blob of green goo landed on his combat boot with what was left of an eye stock sticking out of it.

Then came the more gruesome part of the battle ritual as the archers and artillery again ran low on ammo and retreated to replenish their weapons. Then came Shaojia's order for his mass of soldiers to charge the enemy. Leave no prisoners was his command which his men were too eager to follow. Jimmy took a deep breath and tried his best to keep up with the more physically fit Enforcers as were the rest of the 5 other people from Retroville. He waited for the two Enforcers that had passed him up to shove the Yolkians they were locked in combat with backwards, killing them along with the ones they collided with.

Taking his dao, Jimmy sliced across the steel plating of a WarBot that he spotted trying to finish off an Enforcer it had already shot in the arm. The sword did little though as the steel shell of the robot protected it. It was caught off guard, however, enough so that Jimmy could confonscate its laser pistol and blast it in the face, killing it instantly.

Jimmy's victory was cut short, however, from a blow from behind. Jimmy yelped in pain as he fell to the ground. Turning to see his attacker, Jimmy rolled to the side to avoid getting hit by another electrostaff swing, the staff's electic head long gone probably because of one of the volleys. Squeezing off a quick shot from the laser pistol, a green beam of hot energy shot out of the pistol and gutted the Yolkian attacker, killing it. Jimmy looked at the gun in amazement before tucking it away in his belt and grabbing his dao which had fallen a few inches away where he fell. Charging back to where the main combat was, he cut down a Yolkian that was ruthlessly assaulting a W-12 soldier with its electrostaff. The soldier's chest armor was cracked and some of the skin on his chest could be seen, though it was burnt, charred, and cracked, like an overcooked steak.

He had no choice but to leave the soldier there, though, as a Yolktar attempted to ambush him. Jimmy sidekicked the alien into a few of its comrades, gladder than ever that he had asked Shaojia to teach him Kung Fu. Slashing at another Yolktar, he advanced along with the other soldiers towards what had to be the outer walls of the Yolkian capital, maybe a mile away.

Jimmy continued to charge, slashing at Yolkian after Yolkian. Finally, he grew tired and kneeled down to catch his breath, firing his captured pistol at any Yolkians he could get a clear shot at. After 15 kills, Jimmy stood up again and rejoined the main force which was charging the opposing army with merciless and ruthless bloodlust. Jimmy just kept firing as he struggled to catch up to the still advancing friendly line.

Finally, Jimmy was able to catch his breath when the Enforcers had chased the enemy down to their outer wall where they were slaughtering the enemy as the gate operators struggled to open the gates from their posts above on the top of the wall without getting their heads blown off. One such operator met such a fate as a bullet entered and then exited its brain-blob, sending its corpse, shell and all, down into the alien mass below, killing a few unlucky Yolktars.

At last, Jimmy had reached the outer wall. The sight was horrifying to say the least. Enforcers were lined up into something akin to a Greek phalanyx formation and literally bashing the Yolkians into the outer wall. The aliens screamed and cried as they were swiftly cut down. Finally, the gate operators managed to open the gates for their comrades.

Desperate for a reprieve, the enemy force retreated through the gates while some Enforcers attempted to attack and follow. "Onward!" was the cry uttered from General Tian who was the first to reach the gate since Shaojia was currently paying his respects to a particular soldier that had fallen before taking the soldier's dog tags. "Through the gates! Show no mercy!"

The remaining soldiers, from a division of 12,000 down to maybe something closer to 11,500, roared in approval and cried for blood (or rather, goo). Jimmy was amazed at how few losses the Enforcers suffered compared to their enemy. The Yolkian forces must have lost over 50,000 soldiers. The only reason that the aliens were still in the fight was because the Yolktars kept filling in for the fallen. From the green Yolkian majority, the opposing army was now comprised of the demonic-looking Yolktar soldiers, most of them probably nely bred. And to think, the same scene was happening all around the Yolkian capitol. Goobot must be shaking in his shell.

The Enforcers forced their way throught the gates, some shooting captured laser pistols at the giant walls in an attempt to kill anything on the other side as the bolts burned through the wall's material. Jimmy shoved right along with them, kicking a Yolktar into a group of its comrades, causing its weak armor to explode, killing it and its comrades. He sliced at the legs of a Juggernaut, its acidic goo sizzling as his blade exited the monstosity's leg. The beast cried in anquish before lifting its leg to step on Jimmy. Jimmy rolled to the side, stabbed a WarBot that was in the way, grabbed its pistol before it hit the ground, and fired a shot at the Juggernaut's head. The energy bolt flew true, and the Juggernaut fell backwards onto a few WarBots and a small hut.

'Wait a minute; hut?' Jimmy thought as he sheaved his dao and drew his other laser pistol. Now, thanks to his other captured trinket, he could fire non-stop like the guys in the movies. Doing just that, he strafed sideways as he fired wildly into the Yolkian forces which dwindled under the combined onslaught. While he fired, Jimmy looked past his victims to see several small farms and homes, forming a rural community one would only expect to see in the Mid-Western United States or in Southeast Asia. And out of those homes were ordinary Yolkian citizens, running and screaming to escape the plague of battle.

Jimmy refocused his attention on the enemy forces, now neither retreating nor charging but just trying to defend the little village. Jimmy spotted Shaojia a few feet away literally tearing a WarBot apart, tossing its gears and parts at the robots former comrades before lifting the robot over his head and tossing it at a Juggernaut, a purely brutish and murderous display of anger and contempt. Jimmy saw Shaojia heartlessly executing a Yolkian that had slipped out of its armor with a boot to the brain before roundhouse kicking a WarBot's head off, taking its pistol, and used its inactive body as a shield while blasting at a few more WarBots before shooting the robot in the back as he kicked it away. Now, it was just overkill.

Jimmy walked over to Shaojia as more soldiers pushed forward, connecting with the now-defending (and mostly alien) enemy line. He watched while he walked as the Enforcers that still had their spears, which was most of them, impaled the front line while charging, creating a shish-ka-bob of death. Jimmy shook his head free of the image until he reached Shaojia who was watching his men ruthlessly slaughter the enemy forces.

"There's a village up ahead," Jimmy stated, pointing to one of the huts. "I think we should ask them to surrender again before any civillains are hurt."

Shaojia said nothing as he simply picked up what appeared to be a rake with an electric blue head. He tossed it like a boomerang, giving it a bit of a spin, at a Juggernaut, knocking it off-balance and causing it to kill many of its comrades while causing a small domino effect with the one beside it. "That rake belonged to a civillian farmer. I think that it's official now; all Yolkians are the enemy. I always tell my men not to kill civillians, but when they attack them, they officially become enemy combatants."

Jimmy's mouth fell open in horror. "What?! I thought you said that we wouldn't kill civillians!"

As if on cue, a pair of medics hauled off a soldier on a stretcher while another soldier escorted them out, firing his M9 at a few Yolkians just because. The soldier, Jimmy could tell, was already dead, a Yolkian rake shoved through his chest with a few more lacerations on his face. Shaojia hailed down the medics, took the soldier's dog tags, and ushered the medics off. Dangling the dog tags in front of Jimmy's face, almost tauntingly as Jimmy read the tags, Shaojia bitterly muttered, "We're not killing civillians. Just the enemy."

* * *

Meiling sniffled softly her eyes began to grow dry. She was sitting in Shaojia's bed, crying as she always did when Shaojia left for war. She knew there wasn't really anything stopping her from following Shaojia, but she knew that she would probably be left under heavy guard whenever Shaojia left the house, probably left back in Tiensheng with some of the best assassins in the W-12 Enforcer district guarding her. 

The young girl tucked her kness into her chest as she sniffled again. She picked up a picture of Shaojia which had been taken when he had decided to take her on a vacation after the Third World War in B-18 about 7 or 8 months ago. It had been taken at an 'Eifell Tower' in a small country called France. Shaojia was in a nice, black dress-suit with black shades covering his eyes, making him look like an American CIA operative. She was, however, in a white and green floral dress, a European sunhat on her head to protect her from the French summer sun, making her look more like a tourist.

She smiled at the tender memory. So maybe she did have a little crush on the young general. Who cares? Everyone likes at least one person at one point in their life. It wasn't a big deal. Finally, she gave up and flopped herself onto the tissue-laden bed, tired of arguing with herself. As if on cue, when she was about to take a nice nap after so much grief and confusion, her stomach rumbled, crying for food. It had been about 6 hours since Shaojia and the others left for war at 9 that morning, making it around 3 in the afternoon. Now, the entire ship was practically empty except for the pilots that milled about every so often.

After getting up from the bed that Shaojia allowed her to sleep in, Meiling walked out of the bedroom. Almost every single person in the ship had gone to war, the field medics, the Imperial Guards, and of course the soldiers. Only the medical drones, the pilots, and her were left in the docked ship. Even the paratroopers, who usually jumped out of planes, had gone to war to fight on the ground with their brothers-in-arms.

She sighed sadly as she entered the meeting room, now cold and silent instead of being filled with the usual arguing, planning, yelling, and swearing that usually took place. She kneeled down in front of the Buddha and got herself a small bowl of chicken broth, a hot, Chinese comfort food to help her through the loneliness of being a close friend to a soldier. She sat down with her bowl of broth and turned on the tactical monitor which, thanks to Shaojia's persuasion of some of the tech mice in Lab 52, also had a television function with Enforcer cable service.

Turning the TV on, she channel shifted a little before settling on a Chinese dramedy set in the mid-Ming Dynasty. She smiled as the actors comically acted out their lines in broken English.

"I telling you, Sung," an actor dressed up as an Imperial Court Official cried to another actor in the same garb, "War Secretary Chu not going like a bit of this."

The other, Sung, just scoffed as he swigged a glass of rice wine. "Calm down, Li! Chu not hear a thing, so he no worry!"

Then, a rather portly official wearing higher-ranking official robes walked in holding an extended scroll with hundreds of characters and a drawing of a cow with his face on it. "What is this?!"

Sung looked at Secretary of War Chung and said, "Uh, it a picture of you as a cow." The studio audience can be heard laughing.

"And a very handsome cow too!" chimed in Li. The audience laughed harder.

Meiling laughed along with the audience. She then sighed sadly as she finished her broth, which she had eaten (A/N: Can you eat a soup?) during the show. Taking the remote control, she turned the TV back to its tactical display. She then remembered that she could monitor the battle statistics. Better still, she had now just realized that she could send a recon probe to view the battle. With a few keyboard commands, Probe Alpha was on its way.

* * *

Jimmy used his dao to break into one of the abandoned little huts in the village, the supposedly metal door crumpling under the pressure. It had been about an hour since the Enforcers breached the city walls of Poultra's Crown. Right now, they were in what the locals called the 75th Ring, now utterly dominated and under the control of the Enforcers though there was apparently no one else there. 

The enemy, in the meantime, had retreated to what then had to be the 74th Ring along with the locals in the 75th Ring. As for the Enforcers, they were resting and breaking into houses to find places to rest for the night if they didn't have to advance until the morning. Along the border of the 75th and the 74th Rings, the W-12 Artillery and Archers stood at attention, ready to defend their new territory from retaliation.

"Hello?" he asked no one in particular, the now-descending Yolkian sun giving off about the same amount of light as a 6 o' clock afternoon sun on Earth. When no one answered him, he walked through the doorway. "Hello?" he asked again, this time with less enthusiasm. The hut was modest; there was, what he assumed to be, a sleeping egg that appeared to have twice the volume of a normal Yolkian shell along with a television like apparatus installed into the wall and a few tools in a metal locker beside the door, all in the same room by the way. Near the back of the hut was a small closet, presumably a pantry of some sort.

Just as he was about to leave, a whimpering caught his attention, like that of a small child's. Looking around, he activated his watch's flashlight attatchment. He waved his arm sideways to direct the beam of light until if fell upon a small crib with a dome covering the top. Jimmy approached the crib cautiously before jumping back in order to avoid the electrorake that narrowly hit his face. "Get away from my son!" the Yolkian farmer cried, waving the farming tool in Jimmy's face threateningly. Jimmy looked in surprised as to where the farmer came from until another Yolkian, presumably the wife, exited the closet. "Just... Just leave! Get out of here!"

Jimmy raised his hands in a sign of surrender and backed away slowly. "Easy, I don't mean any of you any harm. I come in peace."

The farmer made a gulping sound as he held his ground, now forcing Jimmy to step backwards to avoid getting a face full of electrorake. "Why are you here? What have we done for you to assault our village, ravage it, and now break into our homes?"

Jimmy just answered plainly. "Your king has kidnapped my people's parents. We think that he had already murdered them." The last part made Jimmy want to hit himself for saying something like that. 'They can't be dead,' he thought sadly yet hopefully. 'They can't be.'

At his words, the farmer dropped his guard almost immediately. "You're against the king?" the farmer asked suprisingly. Then he extended a mechanical arm in greetings. "Then you are most welcome here, stranger. For years that goolork has oppressed my family along with the other familes on the Outer Rings. He treats us like the ground upon which we live, worthless except for making the food for which we need to survive." The farmer then looked around cautiously. "Who is left in the village?"

Jimmy shrugged as he looked backwards to see a squad of W-12 soldiers attempt to start a bonfire for the night using the remains of Yolkian armor and huts damaged from some of the fighting. "I don't know. I think that almost everyone left when we entered the village and fought with the Yolkian army sent to stop us."

The farmer looked around nervously once more before saying, "As you may have noticed, I'm not your average farmer. I'm a spy for the Yolkian Liberation Army. If you want to take down King Goobot, I can help you. I have connections with agents in other villages in other rings. But even if you refuse our help, remember that we'll be fighting on the same side."

'A spy?' Jimmy thought skeptically as he looked at the farmer who had placed his rake on the ground. "I'll have to consult with another officer, but I'll keep your offer in mind," Jimmy said, attempting to buy himself a way out so he can think more clearly.

The farmer nodded and led Jimmy out the door discreetly. "I hope you choose well, Young One," the farmer said before shutting the door.

Immediately, a few nearby soldiers ran over, qiangs at the ready. "Sir, we noticed movement in there. Do you require assistance?" the lead soldier said.

Jimmy shook his head. "No, I think I just found our first Rebel Yolkian ally." The soldiers looked at each other curiously before accepting the answer and leaving. 'Now to find Shaojia,' Jimy thought as he went off in search of the young general. Sure enough, after a few minutes of walking, Jimmy found Shaojia talking with General Tian. General Tian then spotted Jimmy and beckoned him over. Jimmy walked over to the two generals and offered his greetings before pointing to the hut he was previously in and recounting his experience. "I think that we can trust them. After all, the farmer's a father and a husband... If Yolkians get married that is, and he could have killed me when he had the chance."

Shaojia and General Tian exhanged looks before nodding simultaneously. Shaojia answered, "I'll look into it in a minute. It's been a long day. Regroup with your friends and relax." He then pointed to a particularly large hut with a modest field of alien vegetables beside it. "Colonel Vortex told me that your group would spending the night in that hut."

Jimmy nodded his thanks and left for the designated hut. Upon reaching the hut, he found it to be much larger than the hut he had last visited; while the other had just one room and a supply closet, this one had a living room, kitchen, and what could pass as a master bedroom along with four other rooms that were either the children's rooms or guest rooms. Sheen, Nick, and Butch were sitting around the TV trying to get it to work while Cindy was nowhere to be seen. "Hey guys," Jimmy asked, "where's Cindy?"

Without looking up from what seemed to be a remote control, Sheen replied as he pressed random buttons, "She's over in that big bedroom over there." The Latino youth then turned to his friend and asked, "Hey General Jimmy, can you tell us how to work this thing?"

Jimmy nodded, took the remote control, and pressed the first button he could logically consider as the 'ON' button, a green, circular button with a diagram of an eyestock on it. The TV turned on just in time for the second quarter of the third Florgus-ball game in the series between the Gorlockian Warriors and the Andromeda Suns. So far, the Gorlocks were leading the series 2-1 and were also leading the game 45-39. "Ooh..." the boys murmered as they settled down to watch the game with was, most peculiarly, broadcasted in English. Jimmy shrugged it off, deciding that more important things had to be analyzed. "Aww!" the boys cried in protest as the Stars' top scorer Igk'nog was thrown off of his Florgus and onto the unforgiving floor of the Florgus-ball arena.

'Like finding Cindy, for instance,' Jimmy thought as he entered the 'bedroom.' Jimmy found Cindy lying on the floor with her military jacket rolled up into an improvised pillow. Jimmy waited for a moment, counting her heart beats until he figured out that they were too low for her to be awake. Closing the door, he walked over to the sleeping girl and sat down gently beside her. He smiled as he brushed some stray strands of hair out of her face, her nose twitchng when his hand passed over it accidentally. He smiled.

Then Jimmy's eyes fell to her left leg which had been cut open previously, the torn pant leg and blood stains the only proof that the wound had existed. He took his hand and tenderly touched where the wound had been, just above the knee about half a foot going vertically on the thigh. Cindy shifted a little, causing Jimmy to freeze. When she sighed and snuggled back into a little ball, Jimmy continued to examine where her wound had been with a skilled medical and scientific eye before taking off his own jacket and transforming it into a pillow like Cindy had done before lying down for a quick nap.

Jimmy was more tired than he thought.

* * *

Shaojia eyed the probe that hovered overhead every so often. He recognized it, a E-62A29Q... something... It was an Enforcer Recon Probe. It had been following for quite some time, around the the time they had begun to take over the 75th Ring about an hour or two ago, and Shaojia was more than a little irritated. He looked around and checked the area. Right now he was about a mile away from the frontlines, the archers and artillery ready to fire if need be. He watched as a supply truck drove past him on one of the Yolkian roads, its load comprised of ammunition for the archers and artillery. True, a truck on alien pavement looked weird, but it was made weirder due to the fact that it was driven by a 14-year-old W-12 soldier in full aviator uniform. Well, mostly full; the helmet was on the dashboard right next to a bobblehead. 

That truck was just the first in a long convoy, Shaojia knew as he was the one who ordered the command for all of the pilots that had come back from their massacre of the Yolkian Navy to drive the supply trucks down to the positions of all of the W-12 battle groups. Surely enough, another truck drove by followed by another, and another, and another...

After counting about 20 trucks, Shaojia looked back to where he had last seen the recon probe. It was still there, floating almost aimlessly. He was glad that the person operating it knew that the enemy already knew where they were so surprise was a little useless. He shook his head in dismay as he decided to full-out sprint back to his main battle group, maybe a mile away.

As he grew closer to the camp, he could make out a wagon train-like circle near the main road of the 75th Ring. He slowed his pace until it became a normal walk. He wiped off the sweat that had accumulated on his forehead during his 6 and a half minute run. He took a deep breath before entering the main perimeter of the camp, marked as such by two twin bonfires and the two W-12 squads guarding the entrance along with the back-up team off to the side playing a game of Chinese checkers.

He entered the base, pausing only to allow two soldiers walking by to pass. They were holding a supposedly wooden sign, that is if Yolkians had tree-like organisms, with the Chinese characters for a tavern written across it. 'Dragon's Maw,' Shaojia read plainly. 'I might consider popping by later.'

He finally reached his diestination, the temporary division headquarters, formerly the town meeting hall. He entered through what was left of the doorway; the original door was broken down when somebody shoulder-checked a Yolkian into it like a hockey player. Of course, the end results would qualify the offender for a life-sentence rather than two minutes in the penalty box.

Shaojia looked around when he entered the meeting hall. General Tian was there, of course. With him right at the moment were Colonel Yang, and Brigadier General Hong. All of them saluted upon Shaojia's arrival. "At ease," Shaojia said as he walked over to what appeared to be an over-turned table. He looked at it curiously before asking, "Is this thing bolted to the ground?" He answered his own question by attempting to flip it over only to fail. "By the gods, it is!"

General Tian shrugged. "The Yolkians have a strange sense in architecture and design. For some reason, this 'table' is stronger than their armor or their buildings. Maybe that's why we're beating them so badly." The general then motioned for Yang to hand him a data pad. He then added, "According to this, accounts from all of our forces indicate that the enemy has lost more than 800,000 units. Meanwhile, in local news, they've lost around 70,000"

"And how many have we lost?" Shaojia asked as he looked in confusion at the table.

General Tian sighed. "Compared to them, almost none. But it's still unpleasant. In total, we have lost around 30,000 units, for our group specifically, somewhere from 125 to 130. The data's inconclusive."

Shaojia and the others all took a moment of silence for the fallen. Shaojia then proceeded. "Colonel Yang, run out to wherever they put the communication station. Tell all of the field morticians that I want Protocol 6 to be run immediately; all relatives of the fallen are to be taken care of by the W-12 Financial Aid, Insurance, Education, and Housing Administrations. Send them our condolences." Colonel Yang saluted and ran out.

"Sir, that's going to be a little pricey," Brigadier General Hong commented.

Shaojia scoffed. "Damn those greedy bastards to the lowest regions of Hell! Those boys paid the ultimate price, so I'm sure that they can spare a few billion dollars." Shaojia then sighed. "Let's move on; where's General Neutron?"

"I think that he's still with his group," Hong answered. "Shall I go fetch him?"

Shaojia shook his head. "No, he fought as well as anyone, and I have the feeling this took more out of him than any of us. I'll tell him later about what we've decided upon today. Anyways, first order of business. General Neutron has found our first Yolkian ally. It's a farmer living in a small hut near here. Claims to be one of those Rebel Yolkians. There are similar reports coming in from other raiding parties around town. In total, we've got ourselves about 15 Rebel spies and who know's how many others in the other Rings."

"So you're planning on having our new 'allies' tell their friends in the other Rings to start some type of insurgency or rebellion?" queried General Tian.

Shaojia nodded. "I don't particularly care what happens to the Yolkians, now. There have also been some reports about civillians attacking our soldiers, and that I cannot allow. If an insurgency is what it takes to end this war quicker, I'll let them plant a bomb in Goobot's chamber as long as our three objectives are completed: Eliminate the League of Villains, rescue the parents of Jimmy's friends, and get out of this war with as few casualties as possible on our end."

At that, they all nodded in silent contemplations. "When do you want the Rebels to put their cards on the table?" asked Brigadier General Hong.

"As soon as possible," Shaojia answered plainly.

General Tian nodded. "Right, moving on. So when do we plan to attack next, tonight or early tomorrow?"

The three young men contemplated briefly before Shaojia answered. "Early tomorrow. Our men need rest. Tonight, I'm thinking about having our archers and artillery pound 'em until their sun rises. I saw a few dozen machine guns packed with some of the ammunition the supply trucks brought in, so that should protect them against a charge."

The other two nodded. "So tonight is just a reprieve from battle for our boys?" Hong asked.

Shaojia nodded. "Yes. Gentlemen, I think we've got everything covered. General Hong, please find Colonel Yang and inform him of what we have discussed. I'll talk to General Neutron soon." They all nodded and went their seperate ways. As Shaojia exited the meeting hall-turned war room, he looked back at the probe which was hovering maybe a few miles above the ground and a little ways away from him. 'I hope you're enjoying the show, Meiling,' he thought disapprovingly as he walked to the quarters of the N-12 Enforcers. He then looked directly at the probe and beckoned it with a finger. Like a young child who had been caught with their hand in the cookie jar, the probe descended towards him. "War is not something you should see," he whisered before beckoning the probe to follow. "We are going to have a loooooong talk about this."

* * *

Jimmy felt a dull jabbing in his side as he tried to open his eyes. When his vision refocused, he found himself in a rather comprimising position. Cindy, who was still asleep because of the drug that she had been adminsistered, was curled in his arms, her head lying peacefully no his chest. In his rather surprised state, he could barely hear the clearing of a throat. He could, however, feel the jabbing of a boot in his side. Jimmy looked up to Shaojia who had an inquisitvie look on his face as a probe floated near his head. Jimmy shot away from Cindy as quickly as possible and scooted up into a wall. Surprisingly, Cindy didn't even stir thanks to the medicine. 

Shaojia just shook his head as he grabbed Jimmy by the hand and pulled him up. "I'm gonna' go ahead and not waste anymore time by making my usual remark about that. Me and my officers have already had a meeting without you. Short summary: the Yolkians are losing bad, maybe a death ratio of... Well, the point is, in total, meaning from accounts from this side of Poultra's Crown to the other and then around, they've lost about 800,000, we've lost about 30,000. On a smaller scale, the force we've been fighting has about 70,000 graves to dig. We have to dig soemthing around 120-130"

Jimmy's jaw dropped. "You must be joking!"

Shaojia smirked. "Well, how many kills do you think you've made today?"

Jimmy paused for a brief moment before answering. "Approximately 255 if you count the kills I got from making the Juggernauts land on their comrades."

Shaojia then continued. "Well, you're new to combat. Now imagine my battle-hardened veterans. Each of them must have had at least 500 kills in the last 6 or 7 hours because they fight up close and personal. A kick to one egg-faced freak can take out an entire regiment if you aim it right. It's like playing with dominoes."

Jimmy nodded. "Oh, and what did you guys think of that farmer I told you about?"

"We're having him try to start up some type of insurrection in the other rings with his fellow agents," Shaojia replied. "That way, we can not only try and tarnish public view of the Yolkian government, we can send a message to your friend Goobot that we've taken over the minds of his people, and soon we'll be taking over his city."

"What about tonight?" Jimmy asked as he glanced at Cindy for a brief milisecond. "Will we be moving out under the cover of night or will we just fight the war on a daylight basis?"

Shaojia shrugged. "Well, unless something changes our minds, daylight basis. Tonight, I'm going to go ahead and let my archers and artillery pound the living Hell out of the enemy until every single soldier in our division is awake tomorrow morning, and Jimmy, some of them like to sleep in." Jimmy nodded. Then, Cindy started to stir causing both of the young generals to look at her. "Dinner'll be served in about half an hour at the big supply trucks outside. Trust me, you can't miss 'em."

With that, he left the room. Jimmy then got up and sat down beside Cindy. He was staring intently at her face when her eyes began to flutter open, revealing the deep pools of emerald that he had secretly loved even when they were enemies. He thought back to those days as Cindy struggled to wake up, the effects of the medicine telling her to go back to sleep.

Jimmy knew that it had been about less than a week ago, but it had seemed like years now. The two were always fighting, insulting each other, berating each other for something neither of them was at fault for... They were the most intelligent people in the school, yet their behavior was... well childish.

Jimmy chuckled for a brief moment. Speaking of which, Jimmy could remember all those times Cindy had resorted to name-calling to try and demean him like they were still in 2nd grade. They had never truly bothered him, no, his intelligence was far too high to regard such childish acts as truly insulting rather than a vague attempt to appear dominant, but Jimmy never could resist a challenge.

His thoughts were interrupted by her angelic voice. "How long was I out?" Cindy asked as she sat up and laid her tired head against Jimmy.

"I don't know, but I'm guessing about two hours," Jimmy answered as he helped her up to her feet. She stood for a few seconds before collapsing onto him from exhaustion. "Are you alright?"

Cindy nodded as she used Jimmy's shoulders to haul herself back up. "Just a little tired. Um... thanks..."

Jimmy smiled as he whipped one of her arms around his neck to help Cindy support herself. "Do you want to lie back down? Shaojia siad that dinner should be served in 30 minutes, and I can bring you back something."

After a moment of thought, Cindy finally answered. "That'd be nice, please."

Jimmy smiled softly before gently laying Cindy back down on the ground. "I'll ask Shaojia to have someone bring us mattresses later." Cindy nodded and layed her head back on her pillow/jacket.

Jimmy grabbed his military jacket, and then got up to leave until he felt something grab his hand and tug at him. He looked back curiously to see Cindy sitting back upright. "Uh... is it alright if you stay here for a while?"

Jimmy nodded and sat down beside Cindy who had spread her military jacket over her like a blanket while she leaned on Jimmy affectionately. Jimmy was a complete stranger to things such as love and affection. Sure, he saw it happen between his parents, the embarassing flirting at home and the embarassing flirting in public, but he never truly understood what it was.

However, he could detect when hormones in the body start to give off certain messages to the brain that would cause such feelings to occur. And he could also detect when a person was troubled using the same method.

"Cindy?" he asked softly, "Is something wrong? You look a little bothered." Cindy shook her head briefly before finally losing it and leaning her head on Jimmy's shoulder while embracing him tightly in a search for comfort for herself. "Cindy, what's wrong?"

With a strained voice that sounded as if she was holding back tears, Cindy answered, "I can't stop thinking about our parents. I don't think I can lose either of them. But I keep thinkinng they're already dead when I know that they're not... I'm just so confused right now..."

Jimmy cooed softly as he could feel the salty liquid produced by the tear ducts that often signified sorrow and grief. "Shh... It's alright, Cindy, it's alright. We'll get them back, I promise."

Jimmy found it unusual that Cindy was crying. Cindy was always so strong and so independent. Now, she had been reduced to a wailing child seeking comfort from the horrid possibility that her parents and everyone else's parents are dead. But of all people, him? True, there was no one else for her to confide in. True, he was, though nothing is really official, her boyfriend. But for Cynthia Aurora Vortex, the girl with an intellect to match his own and a right hook that can lay a guy out for a week, to seek comfort in James Isaac Neutron, the guy with an intellect that can invent anything out of spare bolts, a piece of paper, and a few used staples, she must be really disturbed.

Jimmy soon noticed that she had stopped crying and was now back to sleep, her face now calm and peaceful instead of her trademark scowl or, more recently, saddened eyes. He smiled softly as he laid her back down onto the floor.

The war had changed them all, Jimmy realized as he left Cindy in the room. He had become a lot more assertive and respected ever since the the second invasion, and this time around, he is now the general of his very own army, a pathetic, poorly trained, over-sized militia of an army, but an army nonetheless.

He entered the room where Nick, Sheen, and Butch were still watching alien sports. Now on was the 3rd game of Florgus-ball between the Needlehead Meeps and the Centauri Knights, the Knights leading the series 3-0 and now completely shutting out the Meeps with a devastating 45-0 lead in just the first half. Jimmy leaned covertly on the wall of the hut and looked at each of the soldiers closely as they watched the game.

Sheen was more or less the leader of that small 'squad' though the other two didn't exactly respect him or listen to him during normal times. Now, however, they had no choice but to learn and respect him because of his rank. There was also the way he fought, as Jimmy had the oppurtunity to see when he was resting during the 4th hour of combat. Sheen would swing his spear like a mad man, killing scores nad scores of Yolkians with single sweeps of the spear, blasting away at Yolkians and WarBots with his M9 as if he were on some type of controlled substance or was playing one of his many Ultra-Lord videogames.

Nick would then have to be second-in-command to Sheen. Nick still kept his cool-guy persona but the few days he had of military training really humbled him along with the cause they were fighting for, or more accurately for him, his little brother. Jimmy watched as Nick looked around covertly, took out a small picture from his military jacket, and smiled slightly as he looked at a family photo. Yes, family was Nick's primary concern right now and that was what was new about him. A few weeks ago, it appeared as if he never even cared about his family, what with him always being out late with his friends, out to parties, out to concerts. Now, he looked like one of those Southern soldiers you see in those old WWII movies with the slow drawl, good heart, and family concern.

Butch, on the other hand, was the least changed. In fact, right now, Butch was counting his Yolkian brain goo collection, the collection made possible by some zip-locks he borrowed from a medic. Jimmy counted ahead of him and calculated that he had cultivated a grand total of 351 Yolkian brains. Butch then got up, scrounged around in the Yolkian's kitchen, found a large, cylindrical container, and poured his sickening harvest into it, filling it almost halfway. The others cringed in disgust but ignored it as the Knights scored yet another goal on their feeble opponents.

Jimmy cleared his throat as he stepped out of the shadows engulfing the corridor and into the artificial light of the living room, the source being a large lava lamp-type object bolted to the ceiling giving off a whitish-green light. "Gentlemen, dinner is waiting for you outside in the supply trucks." The three soldiers looked at Jimmy before bolting out the door for dinner.

Jimmy rolled his eyes as he picked up the remote and turned it off. Off in the distance, he could hear the distant sounds of machine gun fire, artillery strikes, and other explosions.

* * *

Shaojia slowly began to remove his upper arm and chest armor as he got ready to turn in for the night a few hours earlier than usual in a small hut near the frontlines. He placed the armor parts in a pile near his helmet. "You know, it's not polite to stare," he muttered as he eyed the probe that continued to pester him nearby. 

Surprisingly, the probe answered with Meiling's voice. "I'm not staring!" it crackled. 'Ah,' Shaojia realized. 'It's the radio.'

Shaojia muttered a few incoherent curses before lying down on the mattress he had the supply convoy drop off at the hut. "Why do you want to be here so badly?"

There was a pause. "I just don't want to lose you too..." The answer was so quiet, Shaojia scarcely thought he heard it.

Shaojia made a questioning grunt. "How many times do I have to tell you? I am not going to die. The only way I am going to die on the battlefield is if I go crazy and order an air strike on myself. And with the enemy we're fighting now, you should be more concerned about how long the victory banquet's going to be this time."

Meiling laughed slightly. "Alright, alright. I'll stop." There was a long pause before she continued, "Bye Shaojia-ge..." The probe then proceeded to exit the hut and leave the area forever.

Shaojia shook his head as he walked outside with the bottle of beer he had brought from the Dragon's Maw. "Not 'Goodbye' Meiling-mei. Just good night." He then took a swig of the alcohol... and promptly spat it out before throwing the bottle on the ground in disgust. "What the fuck's in that stuff?!"

* * *

Cindy woke up to the smell of hot chicken noodle soup. 

She looked around as her vision began to clear itself. She was in a large bedroom and on a very comfortable mattress. She sat upright in the mattress and saw Jimmy sitting on an identical mattress next to hers with a bowl of chicken soup in his hands. Noticing that she was awake, he remarked, "Oh, you're awake." He then put his bowl aside and gave Cindy her own bowl. "I didn't know what you liked so I just got something hearty and nutritious for you from one of the supply trucks."

Cindy accepted the bowl and smiled softly as she raised the bowl to her lips. When the hot liquid hit her stomach, she soon realized how truly hungry she really was. "Wow, how long have I been out? I'm starving!"

Jimmy shrugged as he ate his soup slowly. "Well, considering we skipped lunch, that would be understandable. Oh, and you were asleep for about 4 hours total."

"That long?!" Cindy asked incredulously.

Jimmy nodded. "Well, the medic did say that the drug he injected into you would cause fatigue and possbily nausea." Cindy then put her bowl of soup down, the bowl now completely empty. "Are you still hungry?"

Cindy nodded. "Just a little."

Jimmy put his finished bowl down as well and pulled Cindy to her feet. "Come on, we'll go grab something from the supply trucks. It's about 8 o' clock Earth time, so I don't think they're closed yet."

Cindy smiled as she followed Jimmy out of the bedroom. "Where are the guys?" she asked when they reached the living room.

"I think they went out or something," Jimmy answered as he opened the door. Stepping into the Yolkian night, neither of them could think of anything to say aobut the festivities going on outside. Near the supply trucks, an entire party was going on in the middle of a war. There was a wrestling match where soldiers betted on their fellow soldiers while some of them wrestled just for the Hell of it. There were telephone stations where soldiers can call home to their loved ones. There was even a bar for some of the older Enforcers!

"This is something you don't see everyday at a military base," Cindy commented wryly as the two walked towards the supply trucks.

When they neared the supply trucks, a young man, maybe 15 or 16, in a pilot's uniform that was cleaning a drinking mug with a towel hailed them over to the back of his truck, the back of which was filled with thousands of exotic liquors. "Hey, General Neutron! Colonel Vortex!" the pilot said in an oddly Celtic accent. What're yer poisons?"

"Uh, we don't drink," Jimmy answered as they walked past the bartender. As they walked past, he asked Cindy, "So, what do you want to eat?"

Cindy shrugged as they reached a supply truck marked bluntly as 'Mess Truck 26.' "Whatever they have I guess."

The operator of the truck stepped out of the back and stood in front of the two. Like the other man, he too was in a pilot's uniform but was clearly at least 2 years younger than the bartender/pilot. He was also deathly pale and had a lazy-eye. "Good evening, sir, ma'am, and welcome to Mess Truck 26," the pilot said in pure military fashion. "May I take your order?"

"Uh, what do you have?" Jimmy asked as he looked into the back of the truck which seemed empty.

The pilot caught Jimmy's gaze and explained. "You can have anything you want, sir. There's a food generator at the back of the cargo hold."

Jimmy looked at Cindy. "So, what do you want?"

"I'll just have what you're having," she replied as she looked around. There really was a bit of a party going on, though, more of a college frat party rather than any of the parties she had ever been to.

Jimmy said to the pilot, "Alright, then two plates of spaghetti, my good man."

The pilot nodded and went into the recesses of the ship and came out a few seconds later carrying their order on a cafeteria tray. "There you go, sir, and enjoy your night."

Jimmy accepted the tray from the pilot and walked off with Cindy following behind him. "So where do you want to eat?" Jimmy asked as the continued to walk almost aimlessly.

Cindy shrugged as she shoved her hands into her pant pockets like any youth would do. "Let's go back to the hut, it's a little humid out here." Jimmy consented and followed Cindy to the hut.

When they finally reach their hut and into their bedroom, Jimmy placed their dinner tray on the floor. He passed Cindy's hers while she sat down against her mattress. He then sat down with his and they ate it silence for a while. Tired of the silence, Jimmy tried to make small talk. "So Cindy, do you remember when we were first here on Yolkus?"

Cindy stopped eating for a second as the memory came to her.

_-Flashback-_

_Cindy kneeled down in front of the opening that allowed some light to enter Jimmy's holding cell. "Jimmy, you there?" she asked. "Look, don't listen to them. They're jsut scared. Are you okay?"_

_She was answered by a sad sniffle and a choked, "Yeah, I'm fine."_

_"Don't be so hard on yourself," she tried to console. "We'll get out of this. Okay, so you made a mistake. Beating yourself up isn't gonna fix anything. You know, I was the smartest kid in school until you came along. And I admit you know more about some things than I do. But I know one thing that you don't seem to get, and that's that we're never getting outta here without you. So why don't you buck up, mister, and put that big brain of yours back to work? Nick can handle the fighting stuff, but first we have to get out of this cell."_

_"Cindy, why are you being so nice to me?" the young genius asked her._

_She smiled warmly though she knew that he couldn't see her. " Because there's a bunch of kids in here that need you. And I do too."_

_-End Flashback-_

Jimmy snapped his fingers in front of Cindy's face. "Cindy!"

Cindy shook her head clear of her thoughts. "Uh, whuh?"

"I thought I lost you there for a second there," Jimmy asked with concern evident on his face. "Are you alright?"

Cindy nodded as she ate her spaghetti tentatively. "Yeah, I was just thinking about the first time we were here." A light hue of pink tinted her cheeks.

Jimmy blushed as well, thinking about the same event Cindy was. Another silence passed before Jimmy said, "You know, we were wrong. Somehow, we found a way to have a nice dinner alone in the middle of a war."

Cindy smiled softly as she continued to eat. "I prefer being on that island in the Pacific. It was so tranquil, so peaceful..." Laying down her now (mostly) clean plate, she leaned on Jimmy as her hands clasped over her stomach. "After the war, do you think that we can go their again?" she asked with a blush.

Jimmy smiled softly as he placed his empty plate on top of hers. "We'll see Cindy, we'll see." Then, a streak of light across the sky caught his attention. "Leaping Leptons! I didn't know they had shooting stars in this system!"

Cindy sat upright as well. "Hey, let's make a wish!"

Jimmy stared at Cindy disbelievingly. "Oh come on, Cindy, don't tell me that you actually believe that-"

Cindy punched Jimmy in the arm softly. "Oh, let's just do it!" Jimmy complied and went over to the window in the Yolkian master bedroom. The two bowed their heads and made a wish. After they were finished, Cindy asked Jimmy, "So, what did you wish for?"

Jimmy smiled as he cupped Cindy's mouth with his hand. "We'll see when we get there."

* * *

**Afterthought:**

Jimmy: Well, since Author's indisposed because of a freak gong accident, who'll do the afterthought?

Cindy: I guess we'll have to do it by ourselves then.

Off-screen voice: NOT SO FAST, MORTALS!

(Author appears in a flash of lightning that struck very close to Jimmy)

Jimmy: GAH!

Shaojia: What are you doing here? You're supposed to be in the hospital... Or the cemetary.

Author: I'm immortal. I can do what I want, when I want, how I want, and order a Big Mac at Burger King.

(Now, a girl pops up from out of nowhere)

Girl from out of nowhere: And I'm his kid sister!

Shaojia: What, is the Burger Kung going to pop up now and give everyone The Finger while he walks off singing 'Safety Dance?'

(The Burger King does just that)

Burger King: You can dance if you want to, you can leave your friends behind. Cuz your friends dance and if they don't dance well they're no friends of mine. S-s-s-s-A-a-a-a-F-f-f-f-E-e-e-e-T-t-t-t-Y-y-y-y. Safe Dance!

Cindy: Moving on... I have to day that your romantic writing has improved. Still utterly horrible, but better.

Jimmy: Yeah, you actually made me think that me and Cindy were going to kiss at the end their.

(Jimmy and Cindy look at each other, they both blush)

Jimmy: I mean-

Cindy: -yeah!

Girl from out of nowhere: Aren't you going to introduce me, Big Brother?

Author: Ah, yes, right. Cast, meet my little sister Emily, she's been helping me write some of the fluff. Emily, the minimum wage type-writer monkeys.

Shaojia: I am not a type-writer monkey!

Author: Sure thing! (Whispers) Type-writer monkey...

Shaojia: That's it! Why I outta! (Tackles Author and starts to beat the crap out of him)

Cindy: Well, I guess that's the end of this session of The Afterthought.

Jimmy: Tune in next time for more killing, more ill-placed romance-

Shaojia: More Author getting his ass kicked by his own creation-

Author: More pain! Ah, God dammit, quit! Ow!

Emily: I hope you're happy, Kitty 32192, the story just got a little more fluffier.

Author: And my face is getting bloodier... Can someone call me a doctor?


	13. Preparation

**Chapter 13:**

**Preparation**

**(Subtitles for Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

_**SOUND EFFECTS**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron. **

* * *

_"A military operation involves deception. Even though you are competent, appear to be incompetent. Though effective, appear to be ineffective."  
-- an excerpt from 'The Art of War' by Sun Tzu_

* * *

Cindy woke up to the sounds of chirping alien wildlife, the smells of cooked breakfast, and the smiling face of her boyfriend Jimmy who had decided to stay with her for the weekend. 

Well, that's what she had liked to have woken up to. Instead, she had woken up to the sound of faint artillery fire, the smell of sweat and blood, and the sight of the W-12 ranged infantry bearing down on the Yolkians with arrows, rockets, and now Howitzer shells as the aforementioned weapon next to her fired on the enemy indiscriminately as it sat bolted to the top of a giant flat bed that had arrived 15 minutes ago along with more ammo for the archers and artillery.

She looked at her watch as she yawned. It was around 10 o' clock at night when she and Jimmy had finally decided to turn in for maybe 8 hours of sleep making it about 6 in the morning now. Well, it would have been 6 in the morning if it was on Earth. Instead they had to settle for 5 hours of sleep to wake up on a Yolkian 6 in the morning, or an Earth 4 o'clock.

She had woken up after Jimmy and the two were now with Shaojia at the front lines. The aforementioned Chinese general was nonchalantly drinking a cup of tea as the Howitzer fired again. "I love the smell of dead enemies in the morning, don't you?" Shaojia yelled over the noise almost cheerfully.

Jimmy looked around as more soldiers began to file into formation for the start of the next day of battle. "Well, I'd prefer the smell of beakers and test tubes but given the current circumstances, I think I'm growing to like it!" Jimmy yelled back, tired as he was.

Cindy looked around as the two boys- well, men, really- talked. She would have to get used to that. Even though they were younger than 18, they were just as wizened as old men, Jimmy an academic scholar, Shaojia a well-rounded military man. She just hoped that Jimmy didn't change too much because of the war as she watched an archer draw the last bow from his quiver.

"Alright, spend your last pieces of ammo and get to the back, boys," Shaojia yelled to his men as some proceeded to do just that, reaching mechanically for another arrow, rocket, or 103mm shell. "Get some sleep, we'll need you when we pound our way into the city and settle down for the night."

Jimmy grabbed a spare qiang from the flatbed and passed Cindy one which she accepted. He then pointed to a certain group of 3 that marched towards them. "Here come the guys." Nick, Butch, and Sheen ran hurriedly towards the line, having accidentally slept late after a night of partying with their comrades.

Sheen ran up to Jimmy. "Major Ultra-Sheen reporting for duty, General!" Jimmy smiled as his friend dropped his salute and smiled his goofy smile. It amazed Jimmy that even after a day of horrific fighting that Sheen could come back the next day with a smile on his face.

Shaojia, however, frowned upon this type of informal greeting. "Major Estevez, get your ass to the line along with your squad! We'll be ramming the Yolkians hard again today and since the Rings are closer together than our ships and the city walls, I'm expecting to conquer at least 20 Rings by oh-18-hundred tonight."

Jimmy said to Shaojia, "What about the Rebel Yolkians?"

Shaojia cracked a malicious smile as he looked at something coming from the village behind them. Jimmy turned around to see the farmer from yesterday and about 14 other farmers. The Yolkian that Jimmy recognized as the farmer he spoke to yesterday went up to Jimmy and Shaojia and saluted. "Generals, We have already contacted our allies in the other Rings and have told them to try and cause as much as a disadvantage to the Yolkian Facists as possible. Now, every single Ring is void of civillians except for my fellow Liberators. They are working being picked up by our dropships and taken to our hideout." Holding his electrorake close to his face, he saluted and stated, "Me and my fellow Yolkian Liberators are ready to help you fight to the Royal Palace."

Shaojia shook his head. "Negative, you'll all be killed the moment you hit the battlefield. Just stay back and let us do all of the work."

Jimmy agreed with Shaojia, if the Yolkians are losing so badly already due mainly because of their armor, what would make him think otherwise that the Yolkian Liberators would last very long? Then the Yolkian said, "I can get the Yolkian Liberation Navy to drop off our own soldiers behind enemy lines. They have very distinct armor patterns so you don't have to worry about your men accidentally attacking them."

Shaojia shook his head while Jimmy stood back and watched the exchange in interest. "You know what, not my concern, but I want you and your men out of my way; as far as I'm concern, this war is in the hands of the Enforcers now. Talk with General Neutron here, he's the most intelligent of us," he pointed to Jimmy. He then said to Jimmy, "When you're finished, meet me in the front. I'll be doing what I was trained to do." He then shouted to all of his soldiers as the archers and artillery kept the aliens and rotos from attacking. "Enforcers! Charge!" And with one unified step, every single soldier charged into battle, qiangs ready to shish-ka-bob the enemy. All except for Jimmy, Cindy, and the Yolkian Rebels.

"So what shall your answer be, General?" the farmer asked Jimmy.

Jimmy thought for a moment. 'Come on, think, think, think...'

-_Think Cycle_-

"We have already contacted our allies in the other Rings to try and cause as much as a disadvantage to the Yolkian Facists as possible."

"I can get the Yolkian Liberation Navy to drop off our own soldiers behind enemy lines."

_"I want you and your men out of my way."_

_-End Think Cycle-_

"Brain blast!" Jimmy exclaimed suddenly. He then looked at the farmers. "Contact your navy. I want you to drop soldiers all around the Yolkian capital. The Enforcers have already taken out the Royal Yolkian Navy, so your men should be safe until they hit the ground. Just fight however you want in the capitol and try to take out the Yolktars' breeding chambers. If we take those out, we can force the Yolkians to surrender... Or annihilate them into submission, whichever comes first."

The farmer nodded along with the rest of his crew. "I see your colleague was right when he said that your are the most intelligent. I shall inform my superiors, General Neutron. Go now, and may Poultra watch over you." Then the farmer left with his quarry.

Cindy smiled as she and Jimmy started to jog/run to the battlefront, the sound of metal connecting with metal distinct yet faint as the battle steadily grew farther and farther away from them. "That was some nice brain blasting there, Jimmy," she joked as they attempted to reach the battle before it got too far from them.

Jimmy grinned in return as he gripped his qiang tighter. "I just hope Goobot appreciates my handy work as much as I enjoy seeing him stew in his own goo."

* * *

Goobot watched with a melancholy glare as reports came in from all stations. He was currently in his throne room, his brother Ooblar yammering away about something gone awry in the Yolktarian Breeding Ground. 

"-and if I didn't know better, it would seem like those beasts had a mind of their own! They attacked three dummies without orders, and I think one of them stole my lunch!"

Goobot finally snapped. "Enough, Ooblar!" His brother fell silent immediately. Goobot hovered towards the sole window of his throne room which was, in reality, the beak of the giant palace/monument shaped like their god, Poultra. He looked out to the very distant fires growing ever closer. "Do you see that?"

"See what, Sire?" his brother asked as he too looked out the window. "Sire, you can't possibly think that mere children can ever conquer our empire?" A long pause. "And if that's the case, Sire, can't we just send that miniscule fellow in the large mechanical suit to exterminate that pest, Neutron? Isn't he the head of this entire operation?"

Goobot shook his head solemnly. "There are others. These 'Enforcers' claim to be literal enforcers of the gods' will, yet they are assisting Neutron, murderer of our god Poultra. How does that make sense, Ooblar? Shouldn't they be helping us instead of that god-killer?"

"They are obvoiusly lying then, milord. Tell the men that! I recommend that you tell our forces that they are fighting against blasphemis prophets that mock the name of Poultra."

"It doesn't matter now. Take a look at these reports." Goobot hands his brother a holo-file. "We are losing close to a million units. The only reason we are still fighting is because we have the Yolktars. Our navy is dead, now charred masses of metal and toxic vapors. Our army is being demolished, almost a million dead yesterday and more entering the Beyond. We will have to try something else; fighting them head-on is not helping at all."

Ooblar thought for a moment. "What about your human allies? What have they to say about this?"

Goobot scoffed. "They aren't of Yolkus. They care not for what happens to our people, to my people, to my planet. Trade has ceased because of these devil-prophets. Many of our alliances with other planets and systems have been severed because of this war." A long silence hung in the atmosphere in the room until Goobot finally said, "I think I have an idea."

"And what will that be, Sire?"

Goobot smirked. "You shall see, my brother, you shall see very soon." And soon followed the obligatory evil laugh. "Muhuhahahahahaha!"

* * *

After about 10 minutes of running, Jimmy and Cindy finally reached the main fighting at the 74th Ring. Jimmy quickly assessed the situation. The Enforcers had pushed the Yolkians way back, destroying or leveling everything in their path. Jimmy grimaced as he and Cindy walked around the remains of a Juggernaut that had been brutally beaten with the other end of a spear after having its legs cut out from under it making it fall onto a hut. His grimace deepened as they made their way around the fiery remains of a hut that had fallen victim to a rocket, the weapon in question sticking out of the dirt in the middle of the inferno. 

"Come on!" Jimmy yelled to Cindy, the cries for blood and cries for sanctuary making it almost impossible to have a conversation without yelling. "We have to catch up to the main force or we'll be left behind."

Cindy obediently followed Jimmy into the stretched Enforcer lines that were attempting to conquer as much land as possible. After shoving past a few Enforcers and shooting some Yolktars, the Yolkians now practically extinct from the battlefield along with the WarBots with the exception of a few officers here and there, they finally found Shaojia locked in heated combat with a Yolkian officer. They drew their captured laser pistols and shot wildly into the sea of Yolktars as they watched the fight.

Shaojia blocked the Yolkian's downward-slashing electroblade attack with his own sword before forcing the Yolkian back. He then made a horizontal slash which the Yolkian avoided by using its repulsorlifts to 'jump' a few inches above the blade. The Yolkian then came down on Shaojia with another downward vertical slash. Shaojia rolled out of the way, his armor slowing him down a little bit. After completing his roll, Shaojia made an uppercut slash with his blade which caught the officer off guard. A shower of fire and metal rained upon a 3 foot radius before Shaojia ran up to his next victim, a Yolktarian Juggernaut.

Cindy was so engrossed in watching the fight that she didn't see the Yolktar sneaking up on her with a farmer's rake. Jimmy, however, noticed it and shouted, "Cindy, look out!" Before Cindy could even react, the Yolktar raised the rake like it was about to cleave her in half with an axe. Jimmy then felt a burst of adrenaline as he ran towards the Yolktar and tackled it like a football player. The alien didn't explode, though. It simply righted itself from its prone position and readied the rake, silently challenging Jimmy to a one-on-one fight. Jimmy readied his qiang like he had seen the Enforcers do, (hands gripping the end of the qiang with the weapon's spear point pointing upwards at a 45 degree angle) happily obliging the alien's request.

The Yolktar charged first, thrusting the rake like a spear. Jimmy knocked away the attack with a flick of the wrist which in turn caused the tip of his spear to crash into the tip of the rake, sending sparks everywhere. Taking the offensive, Jimmy retured his spear to a centered position and thrusted it like the Yolktar did. The Yolktar couldn't have avoided the attack since he was knocked slightly off balance by his defleted attack. Jimmy pulled his qiang out of the dead Yolktar's armor, took a few steps forward, and used his momentum to flip his qiang so that he could side-swipe the dead alien with the opposite end of his weapon like a baseball. The alien flew into a flock of its comrades, killing them all in explosive succession.

Cindy watched in awe as Jimmy, the Jimmy she had once known to be a sweet, non-violent genius, become a caring, deadly genius that had saved her life. She was taken out of her reverie when she noticed a Yolktar nearby. Not wanting to be the only one to not engage in a one-on-one brawl, she charged the Yolktar with her qiang until she was about 6 feet away from it. She thrust herself into the air by using her qiang like a pole-vault and came down on the alien with a maneuver called an axe-kick where she brought her leg to the opposite side of her body, made a half-circle ntil it ended up right in front of her head, and brought it down forcefully like an axe being dropped, hence the name.

The Yolktar saw Cindy at the last minute and took a hover back, causing Cindy to just snap the alien's electrostaff like a twig. Cindy grimaced as a dull pain was felt in her ankle. Shoving the dull pain aside, she assumed a wide Tae Kwon Doe stance. The Yolktar put its mechanical arms up like a street brawler.

The alien charged Cindy with its right fist pulled back like an arrow. When it thought it was close enough, it let its fist fly. Cindy caught the fist with her bare left hand, put her right hand under and then on the opposite side of the alien's robotic wrist (the side facing away from it), grabbed the wrist, released her left hand's hold on the fist, shifted her stance to pull the alien forward and off balance, and kicked the alien in the back as it went past her. The alien stumbled, fell on the ground, and rolled for a bit before exploding into a Juggernaut's leg. Cindy smiled in satisfaction the Juggernaut fell as well, tumbling onto about ten of its smaller counterparts.

Cindy then watched as an Enforcer climbed onto the Juggernaut, plunged his hand into the behemoth's chest armor, and pulled a large, blinking device before chucking it at a mass of Yolktars. The device exploded like a bomb, killing all aliens within a 15-foot radius.

Cindy soon found Jimmy firing at Yolktar's like a crazed mafia assassin with two captured laser pistols, whatever powered the weapons eliminating the tedious task of reloading. Cindy ran up to him, firing at Yolktars as well with her own laser pistol. When she finally reached Jimmy, he was still blasting away at the Yolktars which were now retreating to the edge of the 74th Ring. "Fire!" Jimmy yelled at the Enforcers around him. "Take as many of them out as you can with ranged weaponry!"

All in hearing-range of Jimmy's order quickly complied, firing mercilessly with captured laser pistols, M9 pistols, and one Enforcer with an arrow on a patch on his shoulder, supposedly making him an archer, opened fire with an automatic machine gun. After maybe 30 minutes of deafening gun fire, Shaojia, who had arrived a few minutes after Jimmy had given the order, yelled at his men to contradict Jimmy's order. "Cease fire! Cease fire! Get back into your formations! Double-time!"

As the Enforcers followed their leader's orders, Jimmy looked at Shaojia weirdly. "What are you doing? We had them on the run," he whispered as he glanced back at the Yolkian defense which was now trying to regroup at the border between the 74th and the 73rd Rings.

Shaojia merely smirked. "Just get into your formation and get ready to charge," he answered before running off to line up with General Tian and showed Jimmy what he meant. His qiang was tilted a little upwards from the horizontal postion as if he was about to impale something which was probably his plan. Jimmy nodded as he beckoned Cindy to join him over by his friends. After a few seconds, Shaoia shouted, "Enforcers, Charging Dragon Formation!" At that moment, Jimmy noticed that the formations then thinned out until it became two very long lines, which, given the size of the Enforcer infantry, took about 10 good, solid minutes. While the front line maintained their stances, the second line shifted it a little, their qiang held over head as if they were going to strike downwards with them. "Charge!"

At that moment, Jimmy decided to do something bold. As everyone's foot simultaneously trampled the alien soil, Jimmy yelled, "For Retroville!" Then all of the soldiers shot off from their positions, roaring in approval as they ran to quench their thirst for blood.

It was going to be a good day.

* * *

Libby sat in the chair in her new office boredly. There was absolutely nothing to do in the administrative building of the Enforcer training facility which acted more or less like a principal's office. She turned her attention to the live-via-satellite batle display which showed a grid-like video of the battle of Yolkus. So far, the Enforcers were beating the Yolkians like a boxer beats a piece of meat in order to train for a very important match. 

'Looks like a game between the Clippers and the Spurs,' Libby mused as her thoughts went to her father who loved the San Antonio Spurs and was an avid basketball fan. She sighed as the ache in her heart began to throb once more as her parent's kidnapping cotinued to rack her soul with torment. She thought of her father, Naval Captain James Martin Folfax and valedictorian at West Point Military Academy.

Then she thought of her mother, Jasmine Harris-Folfax, valedictorian at the University of Texas Medical Center, now an attending-physician. She was also the best cook in town, even beatin Jimmy's mom and her smiley-face lemon cookies.

And somehow, the cookies made her think of her insane boyfriend Sheen. With a sad sigh, she looked at the gift Sheen had given her, his first Ultralord action figure which had been appropriately nicknamed, 'Melty-Face.' She grabbed the disfigured toy affectionately as she sat back in her officer chair. Maybe a nap was all she needed to help clear her mind. She bet that she was the only person who thought like her.

* * *

Meiling lied spread-eagle on Shaojia's bed, reminiscing about the times they had spent together whenever Shaojia was home. They were like a typical American couple; they went to movies, they went out to dinner, they went to the Chinese opera, they went to conferences concerning CelestiCorp's lack of seriousness when it came to project headlines... Well, most of the things they did were normal. 

Even though he had reassured her yesterday that he would be fine, Meiling stilled worried about Shaojia. Ever since his accident while on a purely diplomatic assignment when he was ambushed by mafia assassins, she worried that he may someday die in the line of service to the gods. She remembered the headlines of the Enforcer newspapers the day he was ambushed by the hitmen:

'W-12 DIPLOMAT ADMITTED INTO HOSPITAL AFTER ASSASSINATION ATTEMPT IN A-8.'

Meiling remembered reading the article about it. Shaojia had been ambushed at a toll booth on his way to the meeting when his ride was ambushed by Italian mobsters that apparently thought it was still the 1950's. Shaojia was shot in the chest, stomach, and back with ancient Thompson sub-machine guns. He had been trapped in the car and had no way of getting out.

When Meiling had gone to visit him at the hospital, she nearly died. He was like a mummy, wrapped in gauze with IV tubes connected to his body. The doctors said that he was extremely lucky to be alive, considering his age. Theonly thing that kept him from death was his demonic heritage. And then the EKG flatlined. There was chaos everywhere as she started to break down crying in his room as doctors try to resuscitate life into him. And is if by a miracle, the EKG stabilized and he recovered a month later without pysical therapy. And then he exacted revenge on the gangsters.

Since then, she had always feared the worst when he went off on assignment. She worried about him constantly, not like a little sister would her brother or a girlfriend her boyfriend, but more like a wife would her husband. Meiling had recently realized that she had strong feelings for Shaojia. And she hoped and prayed to the Jade Emperor that she would have a chance to tell him.

Unless that chance never comes.

* * *

Shaojia shrugged off the electrostaff's blow as he sliced open the control panel of the offending Yolktar with the tip of his qiang before kicking it in the torso region, sending it into its comrades behind him while the Enforcer that stood behind him stabbed at a nearby alien from above. As he brought his qiang back down to bear, he took a quick situational assessment which he had learned how to do during service. So far, the Chinese variant of the Greek phalanx aptly codenamed 'Charging Dragon' hadn't broken, and he didn't think they had suffered any major casualties yet, even though the battle had gone on for about 4 and a half hours. In that time, they had broken through the border of the 73rd Ring and were pushing towards the second village which, along with the other villages in the 73rd Ring, was significantly larger than any of the villages in the 74th or 75th; the buildings were bigger, there were actual farms instead of tiny huts, and there were even wind mills that acted as power generators though he had yet to feel a Yolkian breeze. 

As he shish-ka-bobbed 3 Yolktars and kicked all of them into their comrades, his patience grew thinner. 'We should be farther than this,' he thought as he saw out of the corner of his eye a Juggernaut raise its electroaxe to kill several unsuspecting Enforcers as it managed to get close enough to the line. Drawing his M9, he fired a clean shot at its head from a remarkable 40 yards away. The behemoth fell backwars onto its comrades. His soldiers, however, acted unaffected and climed over the Juggernaut's corpse, one stopping only to tear out the reactor core of the beast's suit which exploded like a grenade on impact. A large explosion was followed by many subsequent tiny ones after the soldier tossed it far into the back of the Yolkian line.

That recent spectacle was all Shaojia needed to deem that the Chinese phalanx was not going to be used again in this war. "Enforcers, break off and attack! Leave no alien standing! Slaughter them in the name of the Enforcers!" To emphasize his point, he shot the Yolktar in front of him in the brain, spraying green matter onto the dome of the Yolktar behind it. Holstering his pistol as the Yolktars began to back off a little per orders of their commanders, Shaojia's own troops rallied behind him with a terrifying cry for blood. Thrusting his qiang in the air, he said as he brought his weapon to point at the enemy, "Charge!"

His soldiers complied as they all charged in unison, shish-ka-bobbing their egg-faced foes. This went on for an hour, the Yolkian defense falling back several times, only to be slaughtered by the faster Enforcers, whom killed without mercy. Shaojia was quite pleased by how the free-attack charge was going. Guessing from the bigger and more advanced agricultural buildings, Shaojia guessed that they had pushed the Yolkians as far back as to the second village of the 72nd Ring, a large improvement compared to the ground covered in the three hours that the Chinese phalanx had been used.

Then, Shaojia noticed as one soldier got too carried ahead and in a mad dash of impalement, he found himself surrounded by Yolktars with a giant shish-ka-bob of death, the path he created to enter sea of enemies slowly closing as the surrounding Yolktars turned to masssacred him. Thinking fast, the soldier proceeded to spin like a tornado, killing everything in his path until he became too dizzy where he then relinquished his grip on his qiang while spinning, sending it flying into the chest of a conveniently placed Juggernaut that was standing deep in the sea of Yolktars. The Juggernaut soon exploded, sending parts and debris all over the surrounding aliens, killing many of them. As for the brave Enforcer, he would have to fight his way out of the Yolktarian sea if he wanted that stupid, shiny medal. Oh, and life. Life was definitely something he would want, too.

Shaojia decided to avenge what would have to be a death of a comrade as he did exactly what the soldier did, charging into a sea of enemies with his qiang, spinning around in a cyclone of destruction, chucking the qiang mid-spin which again impaled a Yolktar, and waiting for his head to stop spinning. Unlike the other soldier, though, Shaojia had a plan.

He drew his father's sword, now his, and spun in an acrobatic circle as he attempted to ward off the surrounding Yolktars. Then, the blade began to glow a crimson red before darkening to something more blood-colored as he channeled more qi, or spiritual energy, into the weapon. To the Chinese, qi was a power element that only two types of beings can ever attain, demons and gods. Of course there's the exception of the very powerful human, usually a monk. Shaojia was son to a demon emperor. The emperor was considered a very divine figure in Chinese culture and was monickered 'the Son of Heaven.' As a half-demon heir to the Imperial throne, that meant he had double the qi power.

Memories flashed in from of his eyes as the world seemed to slow and more qi became raw energy. His parents' deaths, his parents' murderers' deaths, the death of so many of his comrades, they all began to channel into the blade as pure anger and pure power. Soldiers, Enforcer and alien alike, backed away from him as he lifted the sword to the skywhich darkened with each passing second. Lightning crackled violently overhead.

Shaojia had only attempted this technique once before, in L-15 when he was in dire need of help or else he would surely die on the fields of Marathon. He was attempting to summon all 9 Imperial Guardian Dragons whom had protected the Chinese Imperial family for millenia unless they too decided a regime change was necessary or just didn't feel like it. Lightning crashed somewhere in the sea of Yolktars. His own soldiers were more or less retreating. He was alone in a sea of the enemy. An enemy that was about to become nothing but charred metal and goo.

He chanted as his eyes began to glow red, his qi overflowing the blade. "Huo! Shui! Tu! Feng! Ri! Yue! Ren! Guai! Shen! Lai he duo!" (Fire! Waer! Earth! Wind! Sun! Moon! Man! Ghost! Deity! Come and fight!)

* * *

Jimmy watched in horrified awe as the clouds began to darken and swirl like a hurricane. 'Is this Yolkian weather?' he asked himself as lightning crossed the sky. 

"What's going on?" Cindy whispered as she involuntarily took a step backwards. She wasn't alone as a few of Shaojia's own soldiers began to retreat slightly.

Out of pure instinct, wrapped his arms around her securely as he ushered her back. "Get behind me, Cindy. I have a bad feeling about this."

* * *

Goobot watched with his two human comrades in his throne room overlooking the city as the giant swirling cloud began to grow. "I didn't know that it rained on Yolkus," commented Calamitous as he and Eustace watched the developing cloud. "It looks as if it's going to be a supercell." 

Goobot was uterly speechless. Not even Poultra could summon the Plumes of Darkness, or as the humans colloquially called them, clouds. "There hasn't been a cloud on Yolkus in a thousand years..."

Eustace scoffed as he crossed his arms before wincing as his previous wounds had not completely healed up. "Agh... Well obviously, you're far overdue." The young lad spat on Goobot's throne room floor and left. "I hate rain! Call me when it clears back up!"

"Rude little bastard isn't he," Calamitous muttered as he looked out towards the city. "What do you suppose that is then?"

Goobot closed his eyes as he sank back into his throne. "Something very, very bad..."

* * *

Shaojia could feel the qi in his blade summoning the 9 Immortal Guardians. A flash of lightning struck near him. That gave him even more qi. And then, a giant hole in the supercell thundercloud formed, like that of the eye of a hurricane, and through that eye entered the 9 Dragons. Shocked murmurings from his own troops reached his ears along with the sound of over 11,000 soldiers dropping to their hands and kness to kowtow to the almighty power that is the dragon, or more accurately dragon_s_. 

They lined up in front of him like the offensive line on football, all forming a type of protective barrier around him. From left to right, there was Huo, Dragon of Fire, his streaming 'mustache' a whip of fire, more fire covering his entire body, followed by Shui, the Dragon of Water, her scales a deep ocean blue, Tu, the Dragon of the Earth, his scales were a dirt-brown with specks of black every here and there and looked like they could withstand any pressure, Feng, the Dragon of Wind, a pale, almost translucent whitish-gray color, her streaming 'mustache' flowing gently in the wind unlike those of her comrades which went straight down, Ri, the Dragon of the Sun, a giant, dragon-shaped mass of fire that glowed an unearthly yellow light, Yue, the Dragon of the Moon, a gray-scaled dragon that can alter gravity itself, Ren, Dragon of Men, a green-scaled dragon that uses the emotions of mortals to defeat any foe, Guai, Dragon of Ghosts, a black-scaled dragon that could summon demons and spirits as well as send living foes to the depths of Hell, and finally Shen, the Dragon of Gods, who's powers extended beyond imaginability.

The dragons hovered above the ground, like the great spirits they were, and glowed their respective elemental colors. Shaojia didn't even say a word as he directed his sword at the Yolkian's line of defense, which were comprised now mainly of Yolktars. Upon completed the little point, Shaojia did a more acrobatic maneuver, jumping forwards, spinning before he hit the ground, and slashing at the general location of the Yolkian army.

That was the catalyst of a near-apocolyptical scene. Upon the completion of his attack, the dragons shot forward and molded into a giant blur of raging elements. No one could see what was happening, but the destruction could be heard clearly. The sound of earthquakes ravaging everything. The sound of lightning crashing everywhere. The sound of erupting plumes of fire scorching everything. The sound of rain following specificlly on the Yolktars flooding everything. The sound of the very fabrics of space being torn and sending everything into the pits of space. The sound of the Gates of Hell being opened and demons and spirits having a fantastic feast upon the souls of the living and dragging their prey back to Hell. These horrible, horrible sounds described an utter massacre, a slaughter, a great killing never before seen on the alien soil.

And then the light dissipated. No dragons. No enemy. Just death.

* * *

Jimmy stared in shock and awe as the light finally dissipated. He had been one of the countless witnesses to a supernatural phenomenon. 9 dragons had descended from the Yolkian atmosphere and virtually vaporized everything in their path. He stepped past another shocked Enforcer followed by Cindy, who was holding his hand and felt like a dead weight when he walked. Obviously, she had been scared out of her mind. 

When Jimmy finally reached the front, having been passed up by Enforcers when Shaojia gave the order for them to break off and attack, roughly an hour ago, he was astonished. There was absolutely nothing but charred alien turf that lay ahead. No bodies, no huts, nothing. Everything had been completely vaporized into thin air. In fact, the only things that could be seen were small raging fires that ate off of what was left of the dead land.

A sudden order caught his attention as he continued to stare at the plains of death, destruction, and emptiness. "Alright, get into your formations! We should be able march our way down at least 2 or 3 rings without any trouble." Jimmy looked over to where Shaojia, wo had given the order, stood. His Chinese infantry helmet covered most of his head, but his face was still very visible. Instead of his usual serious and battle-ready countenance, Shaojia's face now showed something akin to weariness and fatigue. His voice, however, was still strong and disciplined, which automatically made his soldiers practically jump into marching formations. Jimmy ran up to his marching position beside Shaojia at the front as Cindy joined him along with General Tian. After seeing that everyone was in position, Shaojia shouted, "Forward, march!" With one simultaneous step, the Enforcer army was trampling the alien ground beneath their feet as they advanced towards the Yolkian capital building probably hundreds of miles away.

As he marched a couple of meters ahead of the main force along with the other high-ranking officers, including Cindy, he told Shaojia about what he had told the Yolkian Libverators those several hours ago. Then, he asked in reference to the charred battlefield that they now marched upon, "What happened?"

Shaojia simply answered, "Sometimes something I see really pisses me off and I decide that a little retribution was in order." He then pointed up ahead at the charred Yolkian turf, blackened like an overcooked Thanksgiving turkey or more simply, Jimmy's dad's cooking. "And sometimes, I feel like letting my men rest so I do their job for them and save everyone about 5 hours of work."

"But how did you do that?" Jimmy asked as he too looked out towards the blackened soil. "It looked like you summoned a tornado or hurricane or something right out of the stratosphere! Or a nuclear explosion."

Shaojia smirked as he patted his jian, or rather, the jian he more or less inherited from his late father. "You can thank my father for that. With his sword, I could channel enough qi energy into this sword to kill anything within 45 miles straight ahead of me." He then pointed forward. "Get ready to see a lot more dead land."

"Qi?" Jimmy asked. "Isn't that the Oriental spiritual energy? I thought it was all just myth and legends."

Shaojia rolled his eyes. "Well, considering that right now you're fighting alongside several demons and other human that fight for the gods, I thought it would be a little more believeable that I can summon dragons to kill things."

Jimmy lowered his head in embarassment before asking again, "Is qi restricted to demons?"

Shaojia shook his head. "No, but it's very difficult to learn. I only know what I know from watching my father. But for humans... it tends to be a little more tricky. You see, for humans, qi is normally used for medicinal purposes and is almost impossible to use it in the way demons do without years of training. Otherwise, you might end up killing someone everytime you sneeze."

"And for demons?" asked Cindy who had been intrigued by the conversation and decided to drop in. Jimmy looked over to her as Shaojia answered her.

"Well," Shaojia started, "for demons, and half-demons, it tends to be more comon place. Then again, a lot of us tend to just beat our opponents to death using our bare fists, so qi is still not common practice. Only people who are very influential in the world can learn that type of skill because they have enough free time."

Both of the Retroville geniuses looked down at the charred Yolkian turf in deep thought. Deciding to change the subject to something more important, Jimmy asked, "How long will it take to get to the main capitol?"

Shaojia shrugged. "Well, since everything 45 miles up ahead is dead, we probably won't be seeing any enemy units for a long while which means that we can advance faster what with nothing to try and push us back. Hmm, hold on." He then turned to his right and shouted, "Where's the radio?"

Then, a young soldier, maybe 9 or 10, with a private's insignia on his shoulder pauldrons heaved a large radio on his back over to where Shaojia was. "Over here, sir," was the some-what strangled grunt of a reply.

Shaojia lifted the radio singled-handedly while the soldier caught his breath and sighed in relief before snapping to attention and saluting. "At ease. Hey, where's Li? I thought he was the radio guy."

"Li, sir?" the soldier asked. "Oh, he died yesterday, sir. Luitenant Yang then appointed me as radio manager, sir."

Shaojia nodded as he closed his eyes in deep thought. "Dammit," he muttered, "I think he had a girlfriend." Returning to his normal tone of voice, he told the soldier, "You know how to operate this thing, soldier?"

"Yes sir!" the soldier said with pride.

Shaojia merely nodded. "Contact the _Fury of the Gods_. Tell the bridge to send a fighter squadron to do some recon on what my force is expected to face."

"Yes sir!" With that, the soldier saluted and reassimilated into his brotherly ranks.

Shaojia then answered Jimmy and Cindy's original question. "Well, unless the Yolkians plan on sending another army to stop us, which I doubt they won't, we should be there in maybe a couple of weeks."

"So what're we going to do now?" Jimmy asked as the invasion force continued to march. "Just keep marching?"

Shaojia nodded his head. "Well, thanks to me, we'll have to unless we want to camp out on dead alien turf." At that, Jimmy involuntarily hastened his step a tad.

* * *

Goobot opened his eyes as the strong stench of Yolkian smelling salt hit his nasal receptors. "What happened?" 

Beside him, his personal doctor was attending to him, his white doctor's coat hanging off the edges of his armor. "Well, Sire, after that large explosion, you fainted and Prince Ooblar dragged you down here. Since then, you've been unconscious for perhaps 7 hours." (A/N: That's 6 Earth hours for those keeping score at home) An expression of relief crossed the doctor's facial plate. "Thank Poultra you are alright!"

Goobot shoved the doctor aside as he affized his crown back on his head. "Thank you for your assistance, doctor, but I must attend to the battle. May Poultra watch over you."

"May Poultra watch over us all," the doctor replied as Goobot exited the confines of the doctor's office.

Afterwards, he began to ascend through his palace and back to his war room via his personal aero-lift. Then, he remembered what he saw before he passed out. It hit him like a punch to the face. He remembered seeing the scaled beasts descend from the dark, swirling cloud, decimate one of his armies, and annihilated everything in its path in a straight line starting from the 73rd Ring to the 61st. Nearly 45 Earth miles of carnage was dealt and nothing was left standing. Goobot could feel himself getting light-headed again as the lift came to a halt. When he entered his war room, all that he could see was chaos, both in the room and on the yolpokiri.

In the war room, his aides and assistants were running around frantically in an attempt to keep up with the battle reports. Because of the incident involving Neutron's part of the invasion force, the death toll had sky-rocketed and his workers were attemtping to calculate just how many units were lost while trying to keep an eye out on the rest of the battle.

On the yolpokiri, the chaos was much, much worse than constant battle reports. Today, it seemed as if Poultra had truly abandoned them as the invading Enforcers began to advance towards the palace rapidly, the farthest group being Neutron's at the 64th Ring . All the while, battles were raging on as he noticed that his army was now almost completely composed of artificially bred Yolktars. Then Goobot saw that a large force of Yolktars were just leaving the Middle Rings and were rapidly advancing towards Neutron's force. Goobot was relieved that his troublesome nemesis will at least be impeaded if not killed, even though the subjugation force wouldn't arrive until some time past midnight.

Goobot hovered over to the yolpokiri and keyed the zoom command over a particular battle in the 70th Ring. The leader of that division was clearly ordering his men to burn down the village the were in as his men began to retreat. The leader took out a glass bottle of liquid with a rag sticking out of the top, lit it, and then threw it into a hut where it exploded into flames. Goobot had to restrain himself with rage as his soldeirs followed his example, and soon, the whole village was aflame as the Enforcers began leave the village and continue their advance.

'Vile humans,' he thought with unparalled hatred for his new advesaries. 'They're destroying the capitol! They're destroying the economy! They're going to be the end of me!' Turning quickly, he turned to one of his aides and commanded, "Contact the Breeding Chambers. Tell them that I want productivity to increase 20-fold. I am through playing nice. Unleash the Collusi!"

* * *

Jimmy groaned internally as his feet continued to ache. It had been 4 hours since Shaojia had unleashed his qi-powered atomic bomb of an attack. Closing his eyes, he attempted to calculate how far they are since the signs that would usually say in a cheerful (well as cheerful as Jimmy could conclude since it was written in the Yolkian language) manner, 'Welcome to the 'Something-th' Ring!' were all ash and vapor, along with everything else that got in the blast's way. After half of a minute, he concluded they were somewhere in the 64th Ring. 

'And not a village in sight,' Jimmy mused as he reopened his eyes and stared at the long stretch of dead soil.

Jimmy wasn't the only person who was impatient and bored out of his mind. Shaojia took a quick glance behind him back at the new radio manager. After he had ordered for the recon flight, he had not heard anything since. He looked around him as he checked his internal clock. 6 hours of marching plus about 5 hours of fighting since oh-6-hundred that morning made it around 4 o'clock in the afternoon or 16-hundred in military jargon. However, thanks to the slightly qicker revolution of Yolkus, it looked as if it was about 8 o' clock on Earth, and that was seriosuly demoralizing the troops, tricking them into thinking htat they've been marching for much, much longer. What was worse was that the Yolkian sun was beating down on the Enforcers as well, nearly baking them alive in their own armor.

Shaojia finally held up his right hand in a signal for his forces to halt. There was an awkward cease of noise as the once cyclical sound of marching was replaced abruptly by the nothing sound of silence as the Enforcer force came to a complete halt. Shaojia turned around, for now ignoring Jimmy and Cindy's identical questioning glances. "Men! You have fought well for today. I believe that you all should rest for when the Yolkians finally do send more things for us to kill." A few sparse laughs were heard while the Enforcers still stood at rapt attention, also tired from a long day of marching. "Dismissed!"

After the soldiers began to disperse, some gathering into small groups and chatting, others preferring to just fall where they stood and take a nap, Jimmy walked up to Shaojia along with Cindy and said, "I thought we were going to keep marching."

Shaojia nodded as he turned around and looked past his troops and at their rear flank. "I did, but the troops need some rest. Half an hour should do them good. Besides, I want for our archers and artillery to catch up to us. They've had enough rest."

As if on cue, the radio manager, Private First Class Zhang, ran up to them and after saluting, reported, "General Wang! The recon flight has reported in!"

Shaojia turned fully towards the young radio manager and demanded, "What did they find out?"

Pvt. Zhang gulped loudly before saying, "A large intercept force is coming our way. ETA is unknown for sure, but they think that it might be tonight."

Shaojia nodded, considering this vital, new information. "Thank you, Private. Dismissed." He then ushered the radio manager away before turning to Jimmy, Cindy, and General Tian, who had just arrived, to say, "We have a problem." Then, to General Tian, he asked, "Did you hear any of that?"

"Every single part, sir," the general answered.

Shaojia nodded. "Alright, now let's start throwing ideas onto the table. If the Yolkians are going to make their move tonight, I think that we should set up camp. Let them think that we're not expecting them. Then have our archers pour Hell all over the place and drive 'em back."

They all nodded, but General Tian had one thing to say. "But sir, if we advance nowm we can cover much more ground. I borrowed a scout's binoculars for a bit. Apparently, the next village is in the 61st. It would take perhaps a few more hours of marching to get there. If we hurry, we can reach it and set up fortifications there before midnight." Before Shaojia could reply, he added, "It's not a simple village. This one has a much bigger administrative building, like He Fei Castle. If we can take it, we can re-create Sun Quan's taking of the real He Fei Castle during the 3 Kingdoms Period. The Shu had a good base of operations against the Wei then, so why can't the same tactic work for us?"

"Hey, I've done a little research on that period," Jimmy said, catching both generals' attentions. "If memory serves, it took several years to lay siege to the city, but since that one had a military force, and this one probably doesn't, we might be able to conquer it easily."

Shaojia nodded as he took this into consideration. "What I am concerned about is the men. They are tired from marching and tired from fighting. I don't know if they can handle another march with a battle following right after. They need rest."

Cindy nodded as she looked at the Yolkian sky which was quickly darkening with the setting of the Yolkian sun. "If only Yolkus could rotate like Earth and have Earth hours, we'd be able to settle this mess much easier."

Suddenly, Jimmy grabbed Cindy and shouted, "Cindy, you're a genius!" He then spun quickly around and explained, "If we can have your ships orbit Yolkus in the same direction as its rotation, we can, in theory, cause Yolkus to have an Earth-like rotation."

Shaojia and General Tian exchanged confused glances. Finally, Shaojia said, "Well, if it's possible, it'll screw up with the Yolkian's clocks, make them crazy inside because they think it's one hour when it's a different now."

"They'd be disorganized," General Tian added.

"Is it possible," Shaojia asked.

After a moment of thought, Jimmy finally answered, "Well, in theory yes. While on board, I estimated that your ships go about 45 astronautical units per hour, making them something like the Model T Ford of space ships. Well, General Wang, since I already had a chance to tinker with your ship's engines, it goes quite a bit faster at 65 AU/H. If we put this into action, we can probably alter Yolkus' rotation in maybe an hour from now if we start immediately."

Shaojia nodded and said to General Tian, "General, patch this through to the other generals and have them do exactly what I want you to do. I want you to contact 2 out of the 3 ships that brought our troops to the surface, and order them to go into orbit, find out which direction Yolus is rotating, and go that way for about on hour at full speed. Have the other one serve as the ccntral hospital for the wounded."

"Yes sir!" was the general's automatic reply as he marched off to fulfill his orders.

"Now," Shaojia then said, "What are we going to do now? The men are tired, but if we advance we can hold up for as long as we want if the archers get here on time."

Jimmy looked around their current position. It was hardly a defendable location, but if they tried to march all the way to the 61st Ring... "I don't think that we should risk it unless we have a rapid form of transportation. Otherwise, we'll tire out your men, and they'd be in no shape to fight."

Shaojia nodded. "Just what I thought." Then, he added, "Well, if you need me, I'll be over in the medical camp east of here. I went ahead and had some pilots stick around with the trucks they brought yesterday and help the medics go around, pick up our casualties, and head back to the ships so that they can recieve full medical assistance. I don't want them to rot on this damned acursed planet. They deserve better. Anyways, the medics are keeping them there, and I want to see them off. They've been working since last night, but I don't think they've gotten all the way to this Ring yet.

"Wait," Cindy then interrupted as Shaojia turned to leaves, "How many trucks are there and how many wounded? If there aren't that many waiting for pick-up and we have some trucks that are waiting for pick-up, can't we just-"

"-Drive over to the Yolkian castle and lay siege to it using 20 of my best men?" Shaojia finished for her. Then he answered her. "We could, but that's the thing. I didn't plan on doing any of this so I just had 5 trucks stay behind."

Cindy nodded and fell silent. Though she didn't want to think it, she knew that if there were only 5 trucks, they would need as many trucks as they could to transport all of the wounded. Or the dead. Before a long and uncomfortable silence could settle in, Shaojia turned abruptly and marched off towards the medical area, his cape flapping in the Yolkian wind.

Jimmy put a hand on Cindy's shoulder and pulled her in closer to him. "Hey, you tried your best. We'll just have to settle here for the night and get ready for another battle." Cindy nodded and turned around to walk with him around the new Enforcer camp. Maybe they could find a place to camp for the night to get ready for the midnight battle.

* * *

Libby was amazed as she looked at the progress of the soldiers Jimmy would soon have at his disposal as she checked the results of the day's afternoon training. As of now, the soldiers were having dinner which was probably always served exactly on time, 7 o'clock. In fact, the soldiers were advancing and training so fast, the computer systems had already promoted some of them, even a Sergeant Ike Leowitz in the roster. 

Libby then looked out of her office window and back to the alien planet where her boyfriend Sheen was fighting for their parents' lives. She knew that the young Mexican's craziness and random adrenaline rushes would get him through battle after battle, but that's what she feared the most, that one battle too many would push him over and... She didn't even want to think about what would happen.

Taking a deep sigh, she keyed the button mantled to the side of a wall that made the mattress she had slept on yesterday fold from out of the wall. Once the mechanisms that made the action possible finished, she flopped herself onto the bed. She was tempted by sleep, but she resisted it. She was still haunted from the nightmare she had yesterday, of Sheen dying heroicly in the midst of battle. She couldn't sleep. She would just have to try and stay awake until she saw Sheen again, alive and well.

And if she never did see him again, if she were to hear that he had indeed died in service, she knew that the next time she went to sleep...

It would probably be for the last time.

* * *

Meiling lied boredly on Shaojia's bed, as she had been doing almost all day except for when she needed to eat. To combat her boredom, she imagined what her life would be like if she were Shaojia's wife if he finally took her advice to retake the throne. Any children they had would be heirs to the most powerful nation in the known world, China. However, since China had been divided into 4 distinct territories, it would take maybe 5 years for him to unite China again. 

She sighed at the thought and rolled over so that she was face down on the bed, her face partly smothered by the soft pillow. He would still be away from her, the one whom she had cared for as long as she could remember, ever since he had rescued from rogue Ming soldiers all those years ago. She couldn't bear the thought of being seperated from him for 5 entire years.

And then she thought about how much she would love to be with him at that very moment. However, she would have to persevere until the current war's end. As soon as the alarm clock next to her chirped for 11 o'clock, she could feel herself losing to the fight against drowsiness. Soon, she fell into her dreamland, once filled with nightmares, now filled with hopes and dreams.

* * *

Jimmy held Cindy tightly in his arms as they sat together in the tent they were to share until the main force began to mobilize again. He had just woken up after a good 5 hour nap since they had found their tent and went immediately to bed at 6 o'clock. Cindy, however, had yet to wake up. That was where he was now, sitting cross-legged in the corner of the tent with his Cindy sleeping peacefully on his lap, her head on his chest. Outside, he could hear the crackling of the campfire that was in the center of the circle made by the officer's tents. Gently putting Cindy down, he creeped outside to see if he could find out what their current status was. 

As soon as he exited the tent, he was met by the clean Yolkian air, pure with no traces of artificially created carbon dioxide gases. No pollution, no dadly airborne chemicals, nothing but crisp oxygen. The air was a giant contrast from the war he would have to fight to get his parent's back along with everyone else's.

He looked around as the faint sound of marching met his ears. It seemed everyone else was asleep, even Shaojia who Jimmy thought would still be at the medical camp. That was when the aforementioned Chinese general exited his tent, what seemed to be a walkie-talkie radio in his hand.

"Major," he said into the device, "I want your men to set up for tonight along the outskirts of the camp facing the Yolkian capitol. Just set up camp there. Have you planted the land mines like I've asked you to?" A pause and then, "Good. When you hear the first explosion, have your men set up positions and fire at will, but not until you get the SAWs in position. General Wang out."

Jimmy walked up to Shaojia with confusion on his face. "What was all of that about?"

"I'm just preparing for our midnight visitors," Shaojia simply replied. "You get any sleep?"

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, and Cindy's still asleep."

Shaojia nodded in acknowledgement. Then he told Jimmy, "Well, at the stroke of midnight, if Cindy is still asleep, wake her up. Then, meet me over where the archers and artillery are positioned at the outskirts of camp. We'll be preparing to make our charge there."

Jimmy nodded. "So, will we be driving them back or just defending this camp?"

Shaojia smirked as he looked up at one of Yolkus' many moons. The one he was looking at was a full moon, illuminating the night sky. Finally, Shaojia answered, "I guess we'll find out at midnight."

* * *

**Afterthought:**

Author: Hello and welcome to another segment of The Afterthought. Now, what did you guys think of it?

Jimmy: Well, it is apparent that your sister is a much better fluff writer than you.

Cindy: Uh-huh.

Shaojia: Damn right.

Author: (Grumbled) Oh, thanks for the kind words.

Cindy: Well, since Author is too busy fuming in his little corner, I'll continue with the rest of the stuff. What did everyone think of the chapter overall? I thought it was sweet of Jimmy to hold me like that.

Author's sister (Emily): Oh, thank you. I'm a real big fan of the romance novels; everytime we go to Chinatown, I make my brother buy me some. That's what really helped me a lot.

Jimmy: Eh, it was alright, but it could've used a little bit more combat scenes. I mean, if we're going to fight our way to the Yolkian capital, you'd think that we'd have to do a little bi tmore fighting.

Shaojia: Speak for yourself. While I was practicing for that scene when I was fighting the Yolkian officer, I pulled my lower back.

Jimmy: Well, that's because the mental stress being adhered to you is far too great for an average 12 year-old to handle, and is thus causing your mental state of mind to be well over-exerted. Ergo, while your physical age is 12, your psychological age is well over 40.

(Shaojia has a blank look on his face. Cindy knocks him lightly on the head. No response.)

Cindy: Uh, I think you broke him.

Jimmy: Well, since one of our co-hosts is um... broken... And the author is having another random nuclear breakdown, I guess that would have to be the end of another segment of The Afterthought. And to close this off, we'd like to hand this off to a fictional Jon Stewart live from New York City, Jon?

Jon Stewart: Thank you Jimmy! Next on the Daily Show, join us when Lewis Black explains how easy it is to install national surveillance right from your own home! I mean, if Alberto Gonzales can do it, so can you!

Jimmy: Uh, thanks for the head's-up Jon, but I was kind of hoping you'd tell our readers what would be next on Military Science.

Jon: Oh, right. Next on Military Science, will everyone die? Uh-eh-mmm... Probably not.

Jimmy: Uh, thanks?

Jon: And now, here's your moment of Zen.

(Cuts to a blooper from this chapter)

_-Blooper-_

(Takes place at the end of the chapter)

_"I'm just preparing for our midnight visitors," Shaojia simply replied. "You get any sleep?"_

_Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, and Cindy's still asleep."_

_Shaojia nodded in acknowledgement. Then he told Jimmy, "Well, at the stroke of midnight, if Cindy is still asleep, wake her up. Then, meet me over where the archers and artillery are positioned at the outskirts of camp. We'll be preparing to make our charge there."_

_Jimmy nodded. "So, will we be driving them back or just defending this camp?"_

_Shaojia smirked as he looked up at one of Yolkus' many moons. The one he was looking at was a full moon, illuminating the night sky. Finally, Shaojia answered, "I guess we'll find out at midnight." __Suddenly, Carl rolls on-screen chasing a llama. Jimmy and Shaojia exchange glances. "What the fuck was that all about?"_

_-End Blooper-_


	14. Battle Under the Midnight Moon

**Chapter 14**

**Battle Under the Midnight Moon**

**(Subtitles for Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

_**SOUND EFFECTS**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron. **

* * *

_"It's easy to declare war. Now winning one, that's a little harder. But winning one without losing any soldiers? That's just impossible." -- Grand General Shaojia Wang of W-12_

_

* * *

_

Jimmy looked around the tent as his watch's alarm began to go off. Midnight had come. Cindy was still asleep. Getting up, he crawled over to where she slept and shook her gently. After a few soft complaints, the blonde genius finally began to stir. Opening her eyes to reveal her blue eyes, she muttered, "What time is it?"

"Time to get up," Jimmy muttered softly. "Hurry, the Yolkians might be here any time now." Upon hearing the name of their enemy, Cindy immediately sat upright and jumped to her feet. After waiting for her to redo her hair into a neat bun, he asked her, "Ready?"

Cindy nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Jimmy nodded and led her outside. The fire had been put out, making it look like everyone was asleep. Soon, he saw a dark shadow figure move about near Shaojia's tent. "Shaojia," he whispered. "Is that you?"

"No," the figure whispered back, "this is General Tian, sir."

"Wait," Cindy then said in a louder tone of voice than the two generals. "Why are we whispering?"

The two immediately shushed her, Jimmy even going as far as covering her mouth. "Quiet!" Jimmy hissed as quietly as possible. "We have to make it look like the entire camp's asleep. Apparently, Shaojia's trying an Empty Fort straregy, you know, make the camp look umprepared for attack, but it's really an ambush."

Cindy nodded in understanding, embarrassed that she almost gave away their gameplan to the enemy that could be anywhere at any time. "Sorry," she muttered.

"It's alright," Jimmy whispered back before turning his attention back to General Tian. "So where does General Wang want us to take position?"

"Your men are still asleep I think," General Tian replied. "They're in one of the tents. You should probably find them and rendezvous with General Wang at the front. Stick to the shadows. Just in case the Yolkians have some type of spy probe we're not aware of."

Jimmy nodded and after seeing that the other general had gotten the message, General Tian melted back into the shadows. The barely audible sound of feet on soil was the only indication that General Tian had left. Jimmy then said to Cindy, "Okay, let's go."

"Where?" Cindy asked as they began to comb the camp for their only soldiers, Nick, Butch, and Sheen. "We don't even know where to look?"

Jimmy then pointed to a particular tent not too far away from the one they had just shared. "While you were asleep, I went looking for them. With all luck, they're probably still asleep." He then creeped towards the tent. Rapping as loudly as he could on the cloth tent door, he asked, "Sheen? Nick? Butch? Any of you awake?"

A few seconds passed before the front of the tent zipped open and Nick's head peaked out of it. Sleep heavily affecting him, he asked with a yawn, "What is it?"

"This is General Neutron, soldier," Jimmy said, trying to add a bit of authority to his voice. "All of you, wake up and get ready. The Yolkians will be here any minute now. Keep quiet and meet me outside as soon as possible."

Hearing the authority and urgency in Jimmy's voice, Nick quickly shook off the after-effects of sleep and slipped back into the tent. Soon after, all three of the tent's occupants slid out of the tent commando-style. Taking his role as technical squad leader, Sheen reported a bit too loudly, "We're ready, General!"

"Shh!" Jimmy and Cindy both hissed. "Keep it down!" Jimmy yelled as quietly as possible. "For all we know, the Yolkians might have spy probes buzzing around here. So just keep quiet and follow me. We don't have any time to lose." And with that, Jimmy waved all of them into a tight formation, with him at the lead, and the others on either side of him forming a type of square.

Jimmy motioned for them to follow him as he took General Tian's advice, keeping close to the rows and rows of tents which provided a bit of cover from the bright Yolkian moons' light, the others following closely behind. His eyes beginning to grow adjusted to the dark night, he could make out the shapes of thousands of men lying down on the ground, spears to their sides. He crouched down as low as he could and looked for where Shaojia could be. He had obviously reached the front, so they had to be somewhere around there...

Jimmy then saw an obscure glint off of a Chinese helmet far in front of the main force. That had to be either Shaojia or General Tian. Either way, Jimmy made a gesture where the hand was palm down and pushed it downwards. Assuming that he meant for them to go prone, they did, and so did he as he began to crawl on his belly towards his rendezvous point.

After a couple of minutes of crawling, he positioned himself next to Shaojia with Cindy to his side and the others bunched up behind him. Instead of General Tian being on the other side of Shaojia, there was another general, this one of much lower rank than either Jimmy, Shaojia, or Tian, looking at a datapad that showed the relative distance between their forces and the Yolkian task force.

The other general looked to Shaojia and reported quietly, "Sir, Probes Alpha, Beta, Charlie, and Delta have just reported in. ETA for the Yolkian task force is less than 5 minutes."

Shaojia nodded. "Affirmative, General Yao. Contact General Tian. Have him hold his position. Do not show any sign of movemeny until that first mine goes off. Then, order for the archers and artillery to open up, and report to me immediately if something goes wrong."

"Yes sir," Yao replied before grabbing a nearby walkie-talkie to do just that.

Then, Jimmy took the oppurtunity to ask for a briefing. "So, what's our plan?"

Shaojia leaned over to look at the datapad in Yao's hand. "Well, we're waiting for the Yolkians to get here. This ploy has to work perfectly if we want to drive the Yolkians back enough for us to charge and take them by surprise. We'll be fighting until we hit the 60th Ring. Recon probes have told us that there is a massive city that is surrounded by a wall right in the middle of the Ring. It's an agricultural haven, and if we take that out, not only do we take out a major food line for the enemy, we get ourselves shelter until dawn if it isn't already by the time we get there. If it isn't, we defend the city until then using the archers. That should give the men enough of a breather and maybe a chance to have breakfast before heading back out to battle."

Jimmy nodded as he began to absorb and process each bit of information, looking for a way that it might go wrong. "And if it is dawn by the time we get there?"

Shaojia sighed. "Then we'll have to stall as long as we can for the troops to get a little rest before heading back out. I don't want to waste any more time. Jimmy, what do you know about circles that are inside circles?"

"That they..." Jimmy then realized what Shaojia meant. "They get smaller. We would have less room to fight in."

Shaojia nodded. "We'd be a little cramped, and it'd take longer to get to the capitol once we start to hit those Inner Rings, Hell, maybe even in the Middle Rings. Since we'll be trying to push them back while we're bumping into each other. I have a feeling that the more time we let those maniacs have, the more time they'll have to think up of something that could do some serious damage to us. I mean, we're going up against an alien race, a billionaire, and a mad scientist. Money, Knowledge, and Power, the 3 Keys to Conquest."

Jimmy continued to look out towards where the archer and artillery personnel camp was as he digested the information. "Well, we won't exactly need that many soldiers if we get that far, and by then, I'm sure that the Yolkian Rebels would have taken out the breeding chambers so we'll only need enough soldiers to just form a perimeter around the capital. And I'm sure that by then, a lot of your soldiers would like to go back home too, so I think that it might work."

Shaojia cracked a rare, proud smile. "You've really come along since we first met. You might not do so bad in the military world."

Jimmy smiled back as he continued to look at the other camp. "Well, there's a science to everything, and I'm a master at science."

Shaojia was about to respond when the faint but very distinct sound of an explosion reached their ears. "Ah Hell..."

* * *

"It's a trap!" General Tian heard one of the Yolkian officers cry as another tried to control the hordes of Yolktars. 

Taking that as the time to strike, General Tian leaped up from his position and shouted, "All right! Everyone, hit 'em full force! Get those SAWs in position, do it now! Archers, Artillery, pound 'em!" There was an almost simultaneous roar like that bellowed from a terrible beast as the soldiers he was in command of tore out from under their tents and proceeded to give the Yolkian strike force Hell. Meanwhile, General Tian had climbed on top of a empty beer crate and reported to General Wang via his walkie-talkie. "Sir, the enemy force has arrived. Estimated size..." He looked over the sea of Yolktars in an attempt count how many there were in the midnight moonlight. "Possibly 400,000. I repeat, possible size of enemy task force is 400,000, 4-quintuple-zero."

"Affirmative, general," General Wang confirmed as the battle raged on. "Continue as planned." Then the communications went out which left General Tian nothing else to do but pitch in by firing a SAW he had acquired as the units placed under his command began to take their positions as the Yolkian task force struggled to get past their mine field.

First came the Support Automatic Weapons or SAWs. Upon his orders, 1 out of every 4 soldiers that lined up along the front began to set up the light machine guns and immediately began to pour lead all across the enemy lines.

Next were the archers, the new MK-X 542 Enforcer Crossbows in hand of half of the archers. After aiming the arrows wher ethey thought they would have a good arc of trajectory, they pulled the lever in back of the crossbow to load and fire the first arrow before pulling the lever again to load and fire the second. Meanwhile, the normal archers simply aimed their bows, loaded their arrows, and released to fire. Both types of archers achieved deadly results.

After the other two units got into position, the artillery finally set up. First were the houchong, long bamboo tubes reinforced with bronze that had gun powder stuffed in one end and a projectile stuffed in after it. It was basically a Chinese cannon and was fired like its European counterpart.

Then came the firelances which were simple qiang with a single tube of gunpowder strapped to them and buried slightly into the dirt at an angle to keep them steady. Upon launch, they would shoot in a primarily straight line until it hit a target and would sometimes explode, like a modern artillery shell.

Then were the fire arrows which was a misleading name for the weapon itself. It was more like an ancient anti-air weapon that failed in its purpose and was then converted into an anti-infantry weapon. Basically, the main base of the weapon held all of the arrows in place, all of which have a single tube of gunpowder attatched to the butt with a string leading out of the butt. Then, an artilleryman would light the strings which were all woven and knotted into one big string. Upon reaching its destination, the fire would then ignite the gunpowder and send the arrows flying into combat where they will usually find a target. Then came the long and arduous loading process...

The last weapon to be set up was a big contrast compared to its ancient Chinese counterparts. It was an American M777 Howitzer cannon, manned by a 5-man artillery crew. In all, there were 10 of the aforementioned weapons spread across the line within even distance of each other. Soon after it was moved into position and loaded, all 10 cannons fired simultaneously as the Yolkian task force continued to basically run around in circles, sometimes setting off the proximity mines they had placed earlier.

As General Tian surveyed the carnage from over the heads of the ranged weaponry soldiers while he stood on top of an empty beer crate, explosions continued to dot the Yolkian turf as enemy units exploded on impact with the weapons or swent the wrong way and were killed by the mines.

Then came something they hadn't planned on. About 30 minutes into the slaughter, the Yolkian officers then waved their Yolktarian soldiers forward, and at once, the Yolktarian troops charged the Enforcer line, many dying on the mine field in the process. Immediately, his own line responded by shifting their attention from firing in an arc to firing in straight lines in hopes of holding back the Yolkians.

Seeing this new development, he immediately grabbed his walkie-talkie and said to the person on the other line, "This is General Tian. The enemy is charging, I repeat, the enemy is charging. Requesting reinforcements! I'll have the artillery and archers hold them back as long as I could, but I'm pulling out when they get within 50 meters of us."

* * *

"Negative! Negative!" Shaojia yelled at the walkie-talkie as Jimmy looked on in horror. Apparently, death was not a concern for the Yolkians as they were charging directly through the mine field and at the archers and artillery which were practically defenseless against anything under its range of fire, especially the arilltery. "Pull back immediately! We cannot risk losing those ranged units. Pull back immediately and lead them towards our position! That is an order!" 

"Affirmative, sir!" General Tian crackled through the radio. "Pulling back immediately. Prepare for some heavy company!" With that, the transmission cut off into eerie silence as the artillery fire stopped. The only thing that could be heard were explosions and machine gun fire, presumably from the SAWs that were trying to cover their comrades' rear flank as they retreated.

"So what now?" Jimmy asked as the sound of gunfire and thousands of men retreating their way became louder.

Shaojia said nothing as he tensed himself and yelled. "All men, prepare to charge on my mark!" Maybe 10 minutes later, they all saw the retreating force carefully skimming through the lines betweent the formations of Shaojia's forces. As soon as all of the retreating ranged units passed the first line, they soon saw the Yolkian line, Shaojia shouted, "Mark!"

The Yolkians, or more accurately Yolktars, were caught by surprise as Shaojia and his men all jumped up to their feet from a prone position and charged the enemy. Jimmy followed them a milisecond later as Shaojia's first line connected with the Yolkian's forcing many of them back like a football player tackling a ballet dancer. As he began to catch up and realign himself with his original line, the first one, he immediately began to stab at a Yolktar with his qiang

Killing that nuisance, he began to move onto another opponent. Finding a Yolktar neaby, he brought his qiang down on it like a club. The leaf-shaped blade of the qiang sliced easily through the artificial alien's glass dome and through its body, successfully cleaving it in two. After the explosion triggered by his attack, he continued to push onwards with the rest of his comrades.

After about 5 minutes of whacking aimlessly at the Yolkian lines, he soon found himself completely surrounded by Yolktars. Thankfully, half of them didn't even notice him due to the poor lighting, but it was still a dangerous situation to be in. Jimmy spun his staff like the people he had seen in Kung Fu flicks do, albeit a little bit slower and occasionally whacking himself in the shin with the wax wood weapon. Forunately, when he did whack himself, it wasn't with the spear tip. He began to try and make his way back to his comrades. Well, at least where he thought they were anyways.

His attempt at retreating back was cut short, though, by a sharp pain in the area between his shoulder blades. He fell forwards, throwing his qiang with a bit of a twist as he fell so that it would fly like a buzzsaw before hitting the Yolkian turf. His plan was met by several explosions as he rolled over, his right extended to catch the qiang he had calculated to land there. He then came face to face with the Yolktar that had ambushed him with a broken electrostaff, its electric tip gone. Nonetheless, the artificial alien tried to use its staff as a spear and would have impaled Jimmy's head had he not moved it out of the way.

In retaliation, Jimmy brought his qiang up from his position and knocked the Yolktar off balance as well as causing it to lose its grip on the staff that had become embedded in the ground. Jimmy then proceeded to get up before stabbing the defenseless Yolktar with his qiang. He kicked the dead alien into a pack of its comrades before taking down a Yolktar next to him that was trying to attack him.

The alien shifted from offense to defense, bringing its electrostaff up to block the horizontal thrust attack. Then it came about and slammed its electrostaff hard into Jimmy's side, sending Jimmy sprawling to the ground. He yelped in pain as he landed on the injured side. Rolling over quickly, he not only took weight off of his possibly fractured ribs but also avoided getting his head put on a staff. With its electrostaff stuck into the ground, the alien struggled to pull it out of the ground before being shot in the head by Jimmy's captured laser pistol.

Holstering the pistol, Jimmy managed to get back on one knee before the pain in his side became too much. As he began to recover from the painful aftershock of the attack, he began to assess the damage. Obviously, the attack had done some decent damage, perhaps fracturing a rib or two. If he was lucky, it would only be a few bruises that would clear up in about a week. Resolving that it wouldn't kill him, Jimmy struggled to stand up again before falling back to his knee. Finally, he thought that enough was enough and inspected the wound for himself.

The electrostaff had pretty much burned a hole through his military jacket so he didn't have to worry about taking it off. Putting his hand to his side, when he drew it away and held it to his face, he was astonished to see blood. Maybe it was bad. Just to make sure, he went ahead and had his watch perform a full CAT scan and MRI test on him. In just a few seconds, the results were displayed on the watch's LCD screen. Jimmy sighed with relief. 'Only minor blunt trauma and 2 fractured ribs. It's nothing.' Well not as bad as he originally thought it was. With that, he reached for the remains of a tent tarp, tore a length of it off, took off his jacket, and applied the improvised bandage before standing up again, this time with relative ease than compare to his previous two attempts.

Drawing his dao from its sheath, he began to slice away at the Yolktar's while the allied line began to push up. He had succeeded in returning back to friendly lines, or rather the friendly lines had adavanced to him. Then, as the adrenaline in his system helped him to ignore the incessant pain in his side, he couldn't help but think, 'If this happened to me, what could have happened to...' His eyes widened as he looked around frantically, the adrenaline now so strong that he didn't even feel the pain. 'What could have happened to Cindy?'

* * *

Cindy blocked another one of the Yolkian officer's attacks as she had done for the last 10 minutes. Her current opponent was a worthy advesary indeed. He had been maybe her 1st one-on-one opponent of the day, and she was tired of fighting him. Her ruminations of her opponent were cut short when it pulled a surprise attack from above which she blocked with her dao, her qiang long gone after impaling about 4 Yolktars that refused to explode, thus causing the weapon to be stuck. Again, their blades connected, sending sparks flying as they danced a deadly tango, illuminating the dark night. 

Seeing an opening as she knocked away her opponent's attack, she lunged forward to try and stab him. The Yolkian countered by hovering backwards before fixing his sword horizontally and charging at her, intent to take her head off of her shoudlers. Cindy bent over backwards as the blade went past her head like the people she saw in that movie _The Algorithm_. Then, she used her backwards going momentum to flip herself over the blade completely in a back flip before coming down in front of the Yolkian with her blade. At last, her annoying foe was defeated by a downward strike.

Her little victory was cut short, however, by an electrostaff that was intent on finishing what the officer had started. Again, she bent over, her athleticism never ceasing to amaze her. After seeing the staff go over her head, she righted herself and snapped off a sidekick in the direction of her attacker. She looked just in time to see her attacker fly into several of its comrades, killing them all.

She smiled proudly in her victory until she heard someone call her name. "Cindy, look out!" She turned around quickly to see who was calling her before a green laser bolt flew past her ear followed by a loud explosion behind her. She then turned back around, nearly giving herself whiplash, to see what was left of a Yolktar that had tried to ambush her from behind.

She smiled her gratitude to her savior as he arrived next to her, laser pistol in one hand, dao in the other. "Thanks," she said as Jimmy began to shoot randomly at the Yolktars around them.

Jimmy smiled back at her as he finally holstered the pistol and used his dao to cut down a Yolktar that had wandered to close to them. "No problem. Now come on. According to my calculations, we haven't even made it past the ranged infantry's camp site yet."

Cindy nodded as they began to advance along with their Enforcer comrades, knowing that they had to conquer 4 Rings before dawn along with a city that had a wall around it. "Alright, let's go." They then double-timed it over to the front where they knew the major fighting was. Unfortunately, with all the time they had wasted, the front had advanced pretty far, leaving them at the very back up the pack.

* * *

Shaojia shrugged off yet another electrostaff attack as he continued to push his way through the sea of Yolktars. His qiang had been lost roughly 15 minutes ago when he through it at a Yolktar that was about to get one of his soldiers 20 meters away from where he was. He had decided against fighting all the way there to get it back, so he was now using his dao to massacre any alien in his path. 

That brought him to where he was now, locked in fierce combat with a Yolktar. The Yolktar swung at him with his electrstaff which he blocked with the edge of his blade. Then, Shaojia grabbed the middle of the staff, twisted so that he would yank it out of his opponents hands, and finished it off with a dao slice through the brain. Shaojia then sheathed his dao and got in a stance with his newly captured electrostaff. After all, it's not every day that you get to use captured alien technology.

Shaojia began to spin his captured staff like the old Shaolin hermit he met years ago taught him to do, the soldiers on either side of him automatically knowing to keep their distance. While he was advancing rapidly through the Yolkian's subjugation force, racking up scores of kills on the way, he began to assess the current situation. So far, his men had pushed the Yolkian subjugation force as far back as the ranged infantry's camp, as indicated by the destroyed tent he was stepping over as he continued to advance. At this rate, they just might barely get to their objective on time.

This soon changed, however, as he began to hear explosions erupting from _behind_ the Yolkian lines. An idea suddenly popped into Shaojia's head as he brought the electrostaff over his head while it spun before releasing it at the Yolktars in front of him so that it flew away like a giant buzzsaw. Eventually the ensuing explosions stopped. This, however, was enough of a scare so that one of the Yolkian officers cried, "Alright, let's try something else! Retreat!"

At this, the Yolkian subjugation force turned tail and ran away from the advancing Enforcer line. Shaojia then held up his hand, signaling for the Enforcers to stop their advance. "Halt! Archers and artillery, to the front! Until they do, everyone else, open fire on them with anything you have!"

All around him the air crackled to life with gunfire, the loud **_BANG BANG BANG_** of M9s, the electrifying **_ZZT ZZT ZZT_** of the WarBots' laser pistols, now extinct from their battlefield, and the constant **_RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT_** of the SAW carrying units that had stayed to fight with their counterparts in the main force. Speaking of which, Shaojia decided against drawing his own M9 or his capture laser pistol but decided to exact revenge for one of the ranged infantry units that had, telling from his body's death position, tripped over his own two feet while trying to provide covering fire for his brothers-in-arms and was mercilessly finished off by a Yolktar as he lay on the cold ground defenseless. Shaojia picked up the fallen soldier's dog tags and shoved them into a satchel strapped to his waist before grabbing his SAW.

Holding the weapon close to his hip, he pulled the trigger. A stream of lead poured from out of the barrel as he fired at the retreating subjugation force. After his little inspection of the gun's firing power, he began to wave the automatic weapon from side to side to create a lethal arc of lead. Along with his fellow soldiers, the Yolktars practically fell by the hundreds as lead was pumped into their rear flank while some remaining land mines took out a few in their front. Soon, his weapon went dry and he disposed of it before drawing his M9 pistol.

Soon, the archers came into the front at which point Shaojia ordered for his men to fall back behind them to help make room for the artillery units that were soon to follow. Without even waiting for his order, the archers opened fire immediately with their counterparts in the artillery following shortly afterwards. Now, the night was filled with explosions erupting everywhere. However, looking past the Yolktars, he had noticed that there were no longer explosions from the ground as Yolktars crossed everywhere. That had to mean that all land mines have been activated.

20 minutes passed before Shaojia determined that the Yolkian subjugation force had retreated past their range of fire. Once a force of perhaps 100,000 Yolktars, now something more like 90,000, all thanks to the surprise attacks and ambushes. Drawing his dao, he pointed towards the direction of their objective. They had, more or less, 4 or 5 hours until dawn came, and time was of the essence. "All units, gather in your formations! Forward! On to the 60th Ring!"

All that could be heard was the sound of victorious cheering followed by the loud stomps of the Enforcer forces marching towards their objective, the walled Yolkian city.

* * *

The Yolkian general in charge of the apparently botched subjugation of the Enforcer forces was enraged as he was forced to retreat with the Yolktarian troops under his command. Oog'lak Yopovonich was at the head of his entire task force, once 100,000 units strong, now reduced to 90,000. Once at the front, he was now at the rear of the task force sent to destroy the Enforcers. 

He looked back behind them as they desperately tried to reach a safe haven in the 61st Ring, 3 Rings away from their current position in what was once the agricultural lands of the 64th-62nd Rings. The enemy force was far behind them, no where close of being in range to open fire on them with their projetile weapons.

A sudden burst of the said projectiles cut down the Yolktar nearest to him. 'Or so I thought.' General Yopovonich then ordered to all of his troops. "Men! Continue to retreat! We must get to the 61st Ring as soon as possible!" At his order, all of his units began to hover as fast as their repulsorlifts would transport them across the alien turf. The enemy forces were getting closer as more Yolktars began to get cut down by the projectile weapons. Then, a ballistic projectile whizzed past him and struck somewhere in the middle of the force, destroying even more of his soldiers, although almost all of them were artifiially crafted, and thus did not have souls.

Nevertheless, his radio module had been struck by a stray piece of shrapnel during the charge so he was unable to contact for reinforcements. He would have to do without them he supposed as more explosions around him pushed him to try and go faster.

'They will pay,' the general thought to himself as yet another projectile caused one of his soldiers to fall to the ground as a ball of flames as the projectile pierced a vital reactor core. 'When we get to a fortifiable position, they will pay.'

* * *

With the adrenaline gone, Jimmy soon began to feel the pain in his side once more. It was starting him to affect him so much now that every step he took began to cause the ache to increase. Cindy soon noticed this and asked, "Jimmy, are you alright?" 

Jimmy nodded through gritted teeth as the pain continued to worsen. Was it really that bad? Nethertheless, Jimmy replied painfully, "Yeah, I just got into a little scrap with a Yolktar. It's no big deal."

Cindy eyes continued to stare at him in worry as they continued to march, the 61st Ring getting closer and closer with each step. "You're sure you're alright? There should be a medic somewhere around here, we can ask him to patch you up."

'That did sound like a good idea,' Jimmy's more intelligent side thought. However, his macho side, which had grown out of proportion since he had started the war, was the more prevalent. His pride would be far too damaged to admit to serious injury to Cindy of all people. Stupid pride... "Yeah, I'm alright." Jimmy had the sinking feeling that he might regret his decision later.

Unknowing of his internal conflict, Cindy simply smiled in relief. "Good, I knew nothing could take out my big, bad, genius," she said to him before taking a semi-playful cheap shot to his ribs. The ribs that an electrostaff had probably jarred out of place.

Through gritted teeth, Jimmy resisted the urge to cry out as a burst of extreme pain exploded in his side before slowly receeding. And through gritted teeth, Jimmy smiled back to her and said, "You bet."

Cindy simply rolled her eyes. "Fine, but if you die, I'm not carrying you back to camp. Stupid boys and their pride," she muttered. Jimmy couldn't tell if she was joking or if she was serious. Nethertheless, he had the feeling that he was seriously going to regret his decision. The almost timed bursts of pain made him lean on that theory more and more.

* * *

Shaojia began to grow impatient as the 61st Ring refused to get any closer as his internal counting had resulted in telling him that they had marched for maybe half an hour. Off in the distance, he could see a fluttering flag flapping at a high position. That had to be the administrative building of the city in the 61st Ring, but their objective was the walled city in the 60th Ring. Obviously for it to be walled in the middle of an agricultural region, it had to be very important. 

He could always order the men to run all the way over there, but that would tire them out, and the enemy might try to ambush them in their weary state. The only way to get to the 60th Ring would be to march the entire distance.

Shaojia sighed as he checked his internal clock. '2:05 AM,' it told him as he tried to figure out how far they had actually traveled in the 30 minutes that they had marched. Better yet, get the genius to do it. 'Where is Jimmy ayways?' Shaojia thought as he looked around. He immediately spotted the young genius with his girlfriend a few meters ahead of the whole force, and he appeared to be... 'Limping?' Shaojia thought incredulously as he began to walk over towards their position.

Jimmy noticed coming over and told him, "According ot my calculations, we're just approaching the 61st Ring. We'll be in living lands soon."

Shaojia nodded then pointed to Jimmy's right side. "A Yolktar get ya' in the side?"

Jimmy nodded, caught. "Yeah, but it's no big deal."

Shaojia shook his head. "Get to the back and have a medic take a look at you. I know that we're probably heading into a trap. Big farms, big mills, probably a trap just waiting to be sprung. I probably have to tell the men anyways. Just head back and get checked, and by the time I'm through briefing the men, you should be done."

With nothing to argue back with other than a weak, 'I'm fine,' Jimmy nodded and began to head back to the back of the line, Cindy following in tow to help him walk. Meanwhile, Shaojia's soldiers had stopped their advance as they noticed that 3 officers had stopped, and two of them were heading to the back, one of them obviously wounded.

Shaojia addressed his men and shouted. "Alright, men, listen up! Chances are, the 61st Ring has some agricultural mills, some big farms, and a lot of hiding places. It's midnight and the Yolktars are pretty hard to see in the dark night. Sounds like the perfect ingredients for an ambush. Well here's the plan. I want all archery and artillery units on all flanks, archers on the sides, artillery and SAW carrying units in the front and rear. We're going to let them try and ambush us, and then we're going to attack. We are going to set fire to their farms. We must cripple their economy to force them into surrender." His war plan was met with great praise as his soldiers began to cheer and shout. "But for now, rest. Those who think they need medical attention report to the rear to recieve it. Everyone else, clean your blades, load your weapons, and get ready to repel an ambush."

* * *

Even though he was all the way in the back, he was still able to hear Shaojia's speech as well as Cindy. It sounded like a good plan too, trick the enemy into thinking that they were unaware and vulnerable before attacking them full force. As he made his way to where 10 medics were setting up a medical station, he noticed artillery units and soldiers holding SAWs start to move to the front, per their orders. 

The pain in his side continued to increase when he finally reached a medic. "General Neutron, where are you hurt, sir?" the medic, who looked no older than 15, asked him as Cindy helped Jimmy lie down on a small blanket set up for wounded men.

Through the pain that continued to grow, Jimmy answered, "Right side. I already did a diagnosis: Minor Blunt Trauma and 2 fractured ribs."

The medic nodded as he reached into his medical kit and pulled out a hypothermic needle. After filling the needle with an odd liquid, the medic inserted the needle into Jimmy's arm before explaining. "Sir, I'm giving you 75 miligrams of Vitanucleatic Acid Type B. It's stronger than a shot of Type A, but considering the fact that you may have internal bleeding, it should be just enough." Jimmy nodded as the doctor took out a small lamp, set it, and undid Jimmy's shirt so that he could take a look at the wound before administering the drug.

When the medic finished unravelling Jimmy's improvised gauze, all three people looked at the wound with a gasp. There was blood everywhere on the inside part of the gauze and there was even more blood on Jimmy's side and rib cage. All in all, it looked worse than it really did. The medic instantly grabbed Jimmy's wrist, found the vein, and injected Jimmy with the drug. Like with Cindy, Jimmy's side began to glow with a bright, white light, and when it dissipated, his wounds were gone.

Using the medic's hand to help himself up, Jimmy thanked the medic after flexing out his repaired body. "'Thanks doc."

The paramedic nodded before wrapping up his kit. "No problem, sir. Now, the drug is going to cause light-headedness and a sense of well... Some people call it a 'fake drunk spell.' Basically, your mind will become cloudy for a bit, kind of like when you're drunk. You'll feel a bit woozy, and then you'll eventually pass out a little while later. But don't worry, there's only a 30 percent chance of that happening. Worse that should happen is that you'd miss your period if you were a girl." At that, the medic laughed a loud and awkward laugh before going back to a more serious tone. "Well, I hope I'll never have to see you in my hospital again, general." Then, the medic waved over some imaginary nurses to bring over an invisible but deathly ill soldier... or as they could tell from the one-sided conversation he was having with himself.

Jimmy and Cindy exchanged looks as Jimmy began to fix his uniform. "I think I was just treated by a paramedic that really needs a vacation."

Cindy nodded as she looked at where the medic had inserted the needle. "Well, at least he found the vein on the first try."

Jimmy nodded in agreement as he began to notice that the main force was moving away from them. "Come on, we're advancing. We should get back to the front." Cindy nodded as they began to half-jog/half-run to the front of the army.

* * *

Yopovonich yelled at one of the few Yolkian subordinates he had under his disposal as he began to carry out his plan. They had reached the first town in the 61st Ring, Gooton. Right now, he was in the large administrative and trade building that was also the biggest trade checkpoint in the 61st Ring. "Major Yoo'look, prepare the trenches!" 

"With what, sir?" the major next to him asked. "All that's in this deserted town are abandoned farms."

"Well," Yopovonich began to growl, "since this town is deserted, I'm sure the farmers that aren't even here won't mind us tearing down their farms to defend the city."

Catching his superior officer's drift, the major ran off to have the Yolktars under his command tear down the farms, melt the materials, and fill the trenches with the melted materials. Hovering outside of the administrative building, Yopovonich began to inspect the trenches he had the Yolktars dig. They were about 7 Earth feet wide, 10 Earth feet deep, and ran as long as from one part of the city to the other. Thanks to the simultaneous and non-existent fatigue of the Yolktarian forces, the trenches were nearing complete. Soon, the first cauldron holding the melted concoction, the dangerous semi-liquid looking very much like lava, had arrived, and was poured into the trench as the Yolktars working in it began to climb out.

Thanks to the human force's fatigue, he was able to operate without interference while the Enforcers took a break. Very soon, even more cauldrons appeared, and the trench began to fill with the volatile liquid. Soon the trench was filled. "Find some weak wood! Cover the trenches! I don't want any part of the trenches showing! Then, cover the wood with soil!" The Yolktars ran off as ordered.

Yopovonich smiled from behind his protective dome. Soon, the Enforcers will meet their end. He could just smell that promotion.

* * *

By the time Jimmy and Cindy had reached the front of the force, the Enforcers had reached the 61st Ring. The only reason they weren't storming the Ring that very moment, however, was because of the Yolktars lined up against the town they would have to conquer, creating a type of sentient barrier. 

Next to them stood Shaojia and General Tian, both sizing up the Yolkian general. Unlike his subordinates, the Yolkian general stood out in the crowd due to the 5-foot long, axe-like halberd with an electric head in his hands and the electroblade by his side. "Enforcers!" the Yolkian general yelled across the space between the two forces. "Lay down your weapons and surrender the Devil, Jimmy Neutron, to the Yolkian Court! You claim to be warriors of the gods yet you are assisting a demon! Surrender!"

Shaojia looked at General Tian as if not believing the sheer stupidity of the situation. He then looked over to Jimmy. "Well, it seems you have yourself quite a fan club," he joked wryly as he turned his attention to his men. "Men! Fire at will! Artillery, aim for the building behind them!" An approving roar followed by a different kind of roar, the roar of 108 mm shells leaving at incredible speeds and colliding into the weak infrastructure of the Yolkian administrative building while the SAW units and archers tore up the Yolkian line.

At that offense, the Yolkian general ordered his men, "Charge! Bring me the Devil's head!" All at once, the Yolktars hovered at full speed towards the Enforcer force, many of them succumbing to the might of the SAWs.

Automatically, the Enforcer light infantry stepped in front of their ranged counterparts and charged back at the Yolktars. "Artillery, fall back and concentrate on bombarding the town!"" Shaojia ordered as his men passed him up to meet the charging Yolktars. "Archers, go with them and defend the artillery units." Turning to General Tian, he said to him, "General, get to the rear and conduct the bombardment. I want hail storms of death raining on the rear enemy flank. Try to take out their commander if you get the chance."

"Yes sir!" General Tian confirmed as he ran to the back of the force.

Shaojia then turned to Jimmy. "Neutron, stay alert! The Yolkians really want your head, but I'm sure that you need it more than they do right now."

Jimmy nodded as he and Cindy began their own advance towards the Yolktars that were effectively being pushed back by the Enforcers. Taking his dao, Jimmy sliced at a Yolktar that was about to take off his head. "Jimmy, look out!" was all Jimmy heard before he was forced to the ground by an electrostaff blow to the back. Cringing as he rolled over onto his back, he shot at his attacker with his laser pistol, a Yolktar that had somehow snuck around him. Helping him up, Cindy said to him, "You've got to be more careful, Big Brain!"

Jimmy smiled bemusedly as he heard the old nickname. Just as he was about to reply, he had to block an incoming electroblade attack coming right at his head. Holding his blade up in a vertical position to block the horizontal swipe, Jimmy then forced away his attacker's weapon before slicing the Yolkian officer down with his dao.

He then took down 3 nearby Yolktars ganging up on an Enforcer before kicking another Yolktar into a pack of its comrades, racking up 5 kills instantly. In his killing spree, he failed to notice the Yolktars that began to encircle him. When he finally did, however, he went to work instantly on the one closest to him. Slicing the main control panel of the Yolktar's torso armor, Jimmy reached into the suit of armor, pulled out a miniature reactor core, and tossed the object into a dense group of enemy units. When it exploded, Jimmy estimated that a good 20 units were annihilated thanks to him.

Finally, the Yolkians began to give up. "Retreat!" Jimmy heard one of the Yolkian officers cry as the Yolkian force began to pull back towards the castle. At that instant, the Enforcers followed in pursuit of their defeated foes to finish them off, killing any that didn't go fast enough. Jimmy, eager to join the action, turned around to help rally the Enforcers to go faster.

Then he heard the terrible screams.

Looking towards the direction of the screams, he began to see Enforcers falling into a deep trench filled with what appeared to be lava at the far front of the advancing line from his position somewhere in the middle. He was horrified to see Enforcers that couldn't stop in time fall into the hellish trenches, bursting to flames on contact with the lava-like substance.

Cindy fell against him, seeming to have fainted from both the sights of the skeletons of young boys burning in the river of lava and the smell of burning human flesh. Jimmy passed her along to two Enforcers that were standing nearby, scared stiff from the sight as well and ordered them to take her to the rear for medical assistance. They were too eager to comply.

Taking a deep breath, Jimmy stepped forward as Enforcers began to back away from the deep trench of lava, knowing that their was no way to help their comrades. With a shaky step, he walked up next to Shaojia who seemed to be just shaking with rage. Jimmy was also enraged by the possibility that his friends could have perished. They were, after all, in the front lines and most of those in the front perished. From the other side of the lava trench, Jimmy heard the Yolkian general laugh evilly. "Yes, burn like the demons you are! Burn in the fiery depths of the Netherworld!"

"Shut up!" Jimmy yelled at the enemy general as he fired a laser pistol round at a subordinate next to him. He began to do what he did best, think. He was well aware of duels in medieval times, and since the Yolkians fought like a medieval army... "General, I challenge you to a duel!"

The general only increased his laughing as he heard Jimmy's challenge. "I accept, Devil. I will defeat you and become a hero to my people." The general hovered over the lava, almost taunting the Enforcers. The Enforcers then began to back off and form a small semi-circle which would be used as the dueling ring.

Jimmy felt someone lay a hand on his shoulder. "What are you doing?" he heard Shaojia ask from behind him.

In reality, Jimmy didn't know what he was doing, but he had no choice but to go through with his own challenge. "I'm going to get revenge for the Enforcers," was all Jimmy said before stepping into the dueling ring.

As soon as he stepped into the improvised ring, the soldiers around him and his opponent, Enforcer and Yolkian both, began to cheer for their respective fighters. The Yolkian general began to circle Jimmy like a tiger circles its prey. Jimmy stepped out into a fighting stance he once saw Shaojia use with his dao.

The Yolkian general spun his halberd over his head and slammed it on the ground, sending sparks everywhere. "You will meet your end soon, Devil!"

Jimmy rolled his eyes as he gripped his dao tighter. "I don't think so." Then, Jimmy fell to one knee, feeling very weak all of a sudden and for some reason, very tipsy.

Seeing this, the Yolkian general laughed again. "Feeling tired already?"

Jimmy finally stood back up, his knees wobbling slightly. 'This must be the aftereffects of the drug,' Jimmy thought as he remembered what the medic had told him. Then he remembered something else. During his minor studies of Chinese culture and history, he came across a style called Drunken Fist. Interested in it, he taught himself a few movements, thinking it was pretty fun. Jimmy smiled slightly, feeling more than a little tipsy now. In a slurred voice, Jimmy replied. "Nope, I'm just getting started."

**(A/N: Go to e s n i p s . c o m /d o c/ 2 5 0 8 b d f d - a 9 8 e - 4 9 0 9 - 9 7 5 9 - 3 e 0 c b 5 e 3 9 a 7 6 / O n c e - U p o n - A - T i m e - i n - C h i n a -(I n s t r u m e n t a l). Just wait for the song to fully load and play it. Trust me, this sounds really good along with a visual image of a drunken Jimmy fighting)**

The two began to circle each other again, the Yolkian general with his electroaxe ready to swing, Jimmy with his dao gripped a tad loosely in his, stumbling all over the place. The general then charged Jimmy, heaving his electroaxe into the air to slice him in two. In Jimmy's delirious state, his mind urged his body to roll to the side. His body complied, rolling to the side, and landed in a giant heap. Struggling to get up, he took an involuntary side-step that allowed him to dodge another downward strike.

Sparks flew off the ground when the Yolkian's halberd met it. Jimmy came in for a powerful swing with his dao, making it look more like a right boxing hook. Unfortunately, Jimmy's grip wasn't all that good so he just ended up dropping the sword mid-swing and bashing through the alien general's glass helmet. Nevertheless, his attack did do some damage as his fist clubbed at one of the general's eyes, causing him to scream and howl in pain. As for the dao, well, it just landed harmlessly on the ground.

Jimmy threw himself to the ground to avoid a horizontal swing of the electroaxe. He then rolled over so that he was under his opponent. He then kicked in an upward swing, knocking the general off balance and away from Jimmy as he performed a head-spring... and landed back on his back. Undeterred, Drunk Jimmy executed another head-spring, this time sticking his landing, though he did stumble forward a bit, coming dangerously close to the lava trench.

Quickly turning himself around to face his opponent, Jimmy stumbled over slightly to his left before just rolling. Getting back up, he did a nearly 90 degree back bend to avoid being cleaved in half sideways by another attack. His attacker's momentum causing him to overshoot severely, Jimmy took the chance to land a 5 quick punches on his opponent's backside before kicking him in the back. Even though the alien's armor was stronger than its subordinates', it was still pretty weak and crumpled under Jimmy's barage. The general, however, wasn't done yet.

The two began to circle each other again, imitating similar moves from before with the exception of Jimmy, that is, who was stublmig around more frequently, at one point falling to one knee. Taking that moment as his chance, the general used his repulsorlifts to launch him up in the air where he came down on Jimmy. Rolling to the side again, there was nothing the general could do when Jimmy met him 2 feet from the ground and kicked the Yolkian in the side, knocking both of them to the ground, the alien because of the kick, Jimmy because of his lack of balance.

The alien righted himself again before charging at Jimmy with his electroaxe spinning over his head. Using the momentum of the spin, the alien broughthis electricly charged halberd into a fast horizontal swing. With no time to dodge, Jimmy prepared himself for what would be olbivion until he lost his balance again and fell over, narrowly dodging the attack.

At that, the now enraged Yolkian general swung his axe in a downward swing, coming up from his horizontal one and coming down with gravity. Rolling to the side to get back up, Jimmy again dodged the attack which landed a couple of inches from his head on the left and the lava trench a foot away from him on his right. Head-springing back up into a standing position, Jimmy managed to squeeze off 2 punches to the Yolkian's eye stocks before falling back down from yet another lack of balance. Jimmy repeated this motion again, now aiming for the dark green mass in between the eye stocks and forced his fist through the Yolkian's cranial area.

The general stepped back slightly as his goo began to turn grey, his eyes begin to expand and shrivel, and the general himself backing himself dangerously close to the lava trench while gargling incoherently, his halberd long forgotten in the Yolkian turf. Finally, the damage dealt to the general was deemed unrepairable by whatever life-support system the alien armor had, and it shut down, sending the general to an appropriately fiery death.

Jimmy smiled slightly in triumph before falling backwards again, this time to pass out.

* * *

Shaojia began to fire his M9 at the Yolktars on the other side of the lava trench the moment Jimmy hit the ground. "Men, get revenge for your comrades! Take vengeance!" At this, all of his soldiers complied eagerly, firing on the Yolktars that ran around now utterly leaderless. The few Yolkian officers that were still alive were quickly cut down, leaving the entire subjugation force in complete distress. 

With that out of the way, Shaojia then ordered to neaby soldiers to follow him. Walking over to where Jimmy lay unconscious due to whatever strange substace caused him to fight like a drunken monkey, he ordered the soldiers to take Jimmy to the back to recieve medical care and tell General Tian that he wanted him to send any units carrying SAWs up to the front immediately as well as have a huochong artillery unit come to the front as well.

As soon as the two soldiers left with Jimmy carried in between them, Shaojia ordered to his men, "Show no mercy! Find a way to cross the trench!" At that, his soldiers scrambled from place to place to find a stable pathway that could be used to cross the trench that had killed so many of their brethren, maybe close to 50, the biggest amount they have ever lost in a single battle in the particular war. While they foraged, many continued to rain lead and laser bolts upon the disorganized Yolktars. Soon, the artillery unit and the SAW units arrived at the front, Shaojia ordered the SAW units to just fire blindly until their guns ran dry, and he ordered the huochong unit to do the same, to shoot at any large mass of Yolktars the two soldiers, one firing, the other loading, manning the ancient cannon could locate and destroy.

Shaojia then spotted a small plank of wood that lay across the gap made by the trench still partially covered by dirt. 'So that's how they disguised it,' Shaojia thought as he ran over to the plank. 'However, I have other plans.' Picking up the piece of wood that was maybe 7 feet long and 2 inches wide, he dipped it into the lava, setting it ablaze. Then he backed up, the fire getting stronger as it ate up the weak wood. Spinning in a circle, he finally released it, sending it flying like a flaming buzzsaw towards a corner of the base of the Yolkian administrative castle building which stood a good 5-stories tall. The flaming stick easily cut through the base of the large building, the flame on one end of it eventually setting the whole building a flame.

Soon, both forces on each side of the trench began to look at the giant, burning building as it began to crumple to one side, towards the lava trench and several Yolktars. The aliens began to run every which way, some running into each other, other's running into buildings, destroying them. The majority, though began to run in circles as the building collapsed from the fire eating away at its base, destroying many Yolktars, possibly leading to a head count of maybe 60 or 70 as debris began to collide with the weak Yolktars' armor, detonating them like miniature mines which in turn caused more detonations from Yolktars too close to them, thus making them even more like mines, proximity mines to be precise.

However, the destruction the destruction of the building dealt to the enemy force wasn't what Shaojia had in mind. It was actually the fact that the building's fallen structure was plugging up some of the trenches, a particularily large piece landing near Shaojia, spanning from one side of the trench to the other. Stepping onto the fallen piece of building, Shaojia thrust his dao into the air as he said, "My soldiers! Sons of the Middle Kingdom! Sons of W-12! Take vengeance on these aliens! Show no mercy! Burn the town! Leave nothing standing!" After his speech, Shaojia emphasized his words by striking down 3 Yolktars in one wide swing.

Shaojia's Enforcers readily charged across the trench, now made passable due to the debirs of the administrative building. Once on the other side, the Enforcers then became a part of either 1 of 2 unofficially formed groups. 1 group would hunt down and destroy and Yolktars they could find while the other would set fire to the town.

As his troops began to ravage the Yolkian force and town, Shaojia stayed behind to give orders to the archers and artillery units. "Sir!" General Tian saluted when he and the ranged units arrived at his position. "What are our orders?"

Shaojia pointed towards the now burning Yolkian town. "General, take these ranged units and have them surround the town." He then pointed to a very large part of the administrative building that fell across the trench. "Have that pathway reserved only for the heavy field artillery units." He then pointed to the one he had stood on a moment ago, possibly wide enough to drive a car across. "That is for the fire arrow units." He then waved his entire hand over a section of the trench where several smaller pathways were formed by fallen debris. "Have the archers and the light artillery units use those. I don't want to lose anymore men today, general. Have these units surroung the city and fire only when they have a clear shot at the enemy."

"Yes sir!" General Tian saluted. Soon after, the ranged units made their way across the trench, General Tian personally leading the advance.

Meanwhile, Shaojia was lagging behind, watching the scene as it unfolded. Immediately, his eyes found the rather amusing (to him at least) scene of his soldiers chasing down a pack of Yolktars that were running away from them, utterly defenseless due to the fact that their staffs had been confiscated of them by their pursuers. At last, his soldiers grew bored and ended the pursuit by javeling their captured alien weapons through the chest armor of their prey.

Shaojia then stepped onto a nearby piece of broken wall that served as a bridge. Looking back to where the medics were tending to the injured, Shaojia shook his head before charging head first into battle. It was a shame that Jimmy and Cindy were going to miss all of the fun.

* * *

Cindy groaned slightly as she began to come to. She half-expected to see Jimmy towering over her, watching her wake up from... whatever that had happened. Instead, she woke up to the olive green tarp of a military medical tent, the tent illuminated by an old oil lamp. "Ah good, you're awake," she heard a voice nearby say. She turned around quickly to see one of the Enforcer medics, this one with an insignia of a Red Cross and a red Master Sergeant insignia underneath it. She slowly began to get up from the soft blanket that served as a cot before he stopped her quickly. "Whoa, take it easy there, Colonel. From what the two guys who brought you two here told me, you had quite a faint." 

Cindy nodded as what she had seen began to resurface in her mind. 'Those poor, poor boys...' She asked the medic, "Do you know what the status at the front is?"

The medic shook his head slowly. "I'm sorry, ma'am. I only know whatever the wounded tell me. But, I'm assuming we're doing pretty good since I haven't had anyone come in for 40 minutes since you got here, a new record, I think."

Cindy then proceeded to stand up despite the medic's insitance that she stay down and rest. "So I was only out for over half an hour, right?" The medic nodded. "Then I probably still have time to help Jimmy."

The medic quickly grabbed her arm before she ran back off to battle. "Jimmy? If you're referring to General James Neutron, he's over in Tent 3." The medic pointed to a tent across from the tent she was currently in. "According to the guys who brought him in, he passed out after having a bit of scuffel with a Yolkian general. He hasn't woken up yet I think."

Cindy nodded, slightly worried, and thanked the medic for taking care of her. "Thank you, um, I'm sorry, I don't know your name."

The medic simply brushed the matter aside. "No problem, ma'am. I am Medical Master Sergeant Lu, and I am the head of Grand General Wang's ship's combat medical unit. Now, I'm sure that General Neutron would like your company right about now." Cindy smiled slightly as she left the tent. Just as she did, 2 soldiers barged in carrying another soldier inbetween them, blood pouring from his head while he moaned in agony. As she left made way for Jimmy's tent, she vaguely heard the medic swear in a whiny fashion, "Ah, son-of-a-bitch, can't I have just one day without one of you guys coming in here?"

Upon reaching Jimmy's tent, Cindy took a deep breath before entering. When she entered the tent, she was relieved to find him slowly sitting up, rubbing his temples as if he had a headache. Cindy felt tears accumulate in her eyes as she tackled Jimmy back onto his resting blanket. Overjoyed, she said to him, "I'm glad you're alive." Lifting her head from his chest, she asked, "What happened?"

Jimmy began to groan as he sat back up, gently rubbing his lower back. "Well, I distinctly remember you fainting, me challenging that Yolkian general to a duel, and then... I don't think I can remeber anything past that except for the fact that I began to feel... drunk I guess, just like the medic said the drug he injected into me will cause." Cracking her an arrogant smile, he added, "Looks like I won."

Cindy's relieved expression quickly turned into one of irritation as she punched him in the arm. "It looked like you could've gotten yourself killed!" Then, as if a switch had been flipped, she returned to a state of worry, wrapping herself tightly around Jimmy's mid-section. "Don't ever do anything that stupid ever again..."

Jimmy sighed as he wrapped his arms around Cindy. A long, comfortable silence (well mostly silence if you excluded the sound of constant fighting going on not too far away) past before Jimmy heard footsteps from outside the tent and someone whisper, "If they're doing what I think they're doing in there, I really hope that the war's over before 9 months."

Jimmy and Cindy looked to each other before looking back at the two sillahuetes that stood outside of Jimmy's tent. After a very audbile slapping sound was heard followed by an 'Ow!', another voice answered the other one. "Just go in there and get General Neutron. Grand General Wang will not be pleased if we do not fulfill our orders. Now go on, I'll wait for you at the dropship. Better make sure that the Fly Boys don't take off without us."

"But Brother! What if they're... you know..."

"Don't be stupid! I'll meet you back at the dropship."

Deciding that enough was enough, Jimmy quickly stood and exited his tent, startling the two Enforcers that were talking outside of his tent, one standing close to the tent entrance, the other appearing to be walking away. "What's going on here?" Jimmy demanded as Cindy followed him out of his tent.

The soldiers immediately saluted to him before the one closest to him answered, "Sir, Grand General Wang wishes for you to follow us. He wishes for you to capture the walled Yolkian city in the 60th Ring and prepare it for the main force to arrive. He has ordered the entire 10th Shandong Platoon to be under your command for this assignment. He wishes for us to leave ASAP."

Jimmy nodded as he looked around and spotted the Enforcer Infiltrator-class dropship along with 2 other dropships of the same class waiting nearby, filled to the maximum crew capacity of 16. The remaining 6 soldiers were in the other dropship, waiting for their 2 comrades to come with the 2 officers that would lead the mission. They were gathered in a small landing zone encircled by several torch lamps, like the rest of the medical camp was.

"Where are the soldiers from my universe?" Jimmy asked the soldier closest to him and Cindy while the other soldier went ahead and left for the dropship.

"I think Grand General Wang has sent for them, sir, but I have orders to have you board the dropship and leave for our objective immediately if they aren't here in the next 10 minutes ago," the soldier answered as Jimmy and Cindy both looked towards the direction of the fighting, indicated so well by the plumes of smoke and fire that illuminated the night sky. They were worried about their friends' safety.

Jimmy nodded as he told Cindy and the soldier, "Go on ahead, I want to wait for my soldiers."

The soldier just shook his head underneath his helmet. "I'm sorry sir, but I was given those orders precisely 10 minutes ago. We have to leave now."

Jimmy sadly shook his head as he adjusted the dao on his hip before he and Cindy followed the soldier to the dropships. "Finally!" Jimmy heard someone from the cockpit cry out in a bit of a Southern accent as he stepped onto the deck of the crew compartment. "Hey, Dirt Treader, everyone's here right? Where's this 'General Neutron?'"

The soldier next to Jimmy growled back in contempt. "He's on your flying bucket of bolts, Fly Boy. Just get us off the air so we can leave."

The pilot, which was who Jimmy assumed the voice from the cockpit belonged, snarled back. "Hold onto your swords, I need to get the engines calibrated before we burst into flames."

"Couldn't you have done that while we were waiting?" another soldier yelled back.

"Enough!" Jimmy shouted in aggravation as a dull pain began to form in his head, standing up to prove his point. Everyone flinched at his outburst. "We're all fighting on the same side. Pilot, get that engine calibrated. Everyone else, make sure your swords are sharp and your pistols are loaded." The entire ship grew silent as everyone began to do as Jimmy ordered, fearing another verbal lashing from someone who was usually quiet.

Jimmy closed his eyes as the dull ache in his head began to increase. Next to him, Cindy was sitting quietly as well, confused and scared as to how Jimmy was able to muster the anger needed for such an outburst. Suddenly, all of them heard a peculiar shouting, as if a kid on a suger-high was calling for his friend. 'Wait a minute... Sheen?!' Jimmy and Cindy both thought as they jumped from out of the dropship.

Jimmy and Cindy's guesses were right. Sheen, followed by Nick and Butch, was running towards the dropship with a giant axe-like halberd in hand which Jimmy immediately recognized as the one that his dueling opponent once wielded before meeting an abrupt but well deserved demise. As he ran, Sheen screamed, "Wait! Hold that ship!"

Finally, the trio arrived at the dropship. While Nick and Butch climbed into the dropship, Sheen presented the halberd to Jimmy. "General... Wang... said... give... you... big... axe-y... thingy... Jim..." Sheen said inbetween giant gasps of air.

Jimmy smiled at his friend as he accepted the halberd from him. Surprisingly, it wasn't as heavy as he really expected it to be, maybe weighing a total of 15 pounds from top to bottom, the electric blade at the top being the sole reason for its weight no doubt. "Thanks, Major. Get onto the ship and take a deep breath."

Sheen nodded gratefully before climbing into the dropship, Nick and Butch having to help him up into the crew compartment. Meanwhile, Jimmy was playing with his new spoil of war, an enemy halberd earned from a duel. Jimmy took a few experimental swings with the new weapon before spinning it like he had seen the Yolkian that had previously owned it do. Satisfied at this little test run, Jimmy joined Cindy back on the dropship. As soon as he set foot onto the deck, the engines roared like ferocious tigers as the dust around scattered. The 3 dropships hovered over the ground slightly before quickly gaining altitude. At 20 kilometers above the ground, the aircraft began to make their way towards their objective.

Jimmy peered from over the pilot's shoulder out of the cockpit viewport as the dropship flew ahead of the others, a night vision function making flight at night possible without needing to turn on the headlights. They were coming closer towards the city. Jimmy was astonished as to how much damage was done to it. The administrative building that once towered over the town was in shambles, whatever was left of it burning like the rest of the town.

As the dropships continued to accelerate, Jimmy saw that the main Enforcer force was preparing to leave the destroyed town. Up ahead, however, he noticed that a still very large group of Yolktars were attempting to retreat while under fire from the artillery units.

"Pilot," Jimmy asked, "does this dropship have any missiles of some kind?"

From his chair, the pilot nodded. "It's got a load of Hellfire missiles, about 50 rounds, and there's a .50 caliber machine gun bolted on this baby's chin. Want me to have the Ol' Girl unleash Hell on the egg-faced bastards down there, sir?"

Jimmy nodded. "Yes, and go ahead and have the other pilots do the same thing. Contact the other dropships and have the pilots tell the passengers to open fire on the Yolkian force with the machine guns on the side, too."

"Affirmative, sir," the pilot replied before contacting his fellow pilots. "Echo 5-9, Echo 5-7, this is Echo 5-11, how do you read?"

Meanwhile, Jimmy had Sheen and Nick man the 2 machine gun turrets sticking frm either side of the crew compartment and immediately opened up on the Yolkian force as soon as they came into range while the pilot did the same with the dropship's own deadly arsenal, Hellfire missiles raining down on the unsuspecting alien force.

Jimmy walked up to the cockpit and sat down in the co-pilot's seat to get a better view of the situation. Once he stepped foot onto the cockpit deck, he was amazed to see that the Enforcer Hellfire missiles, which were 25 megatons more powerful than their American counterparts, were really taking its toll on the retreating force. Soon, however, they began to go out of range before leaving the Yolkian force behind completely. However, that wasn't before their 10-minute hailstorm of lead had taken out maybe a quarter of the remaining force, estimating to be around only 60,000 units now, made possible due to the volatile nature of Yolkian armor when met with any destruction.

Then, the pilot piped up from his place next to Jimmy, "Sir, do you want me to swing this bird around and get us some breakfast before we get to that city? I hear that eggs are good for the system."

Jimmy couldn't help but crack a tiny grin at the simplicity and calmness of the pilot's jargon. That's probably why the soldiers use them in the first place, other than the fact that some of the real words are really, really lengthy. But then, he went back to business and replied in the negative. "No, just stay the course. We have to capture the city before the Yolkians can reach it. After you drop us off," Jimmy then cracked a small smile, "then you can just retribution for your comrades."

The pilot cracked a small grin as well as he turned up the engine to even higher speeds. Then, in a more serious tone than his behavior indicated, he told Jimmy, "General, enemy city is coming up fast. Where do you want us to drop y'all?"

Jimmy looked along the city wall. "Find us a place to drop near what you think looks like a capitol building. It would have to be the biggest building I would think. Once you find it, radio in the coordinates to your fellow pilots and have them land there with us." With that, Jimmy left the cockpit to address the troops he had under his disposal which included 40 of Shaojia's soldiers and 4 of his own. Addressing the 8 W-12 soldiers with him at the moment, he asked, "Do any of you have a radio in hand?"

One of the soldiers, who appeared to be about 10, raised his hand before reaching into a large sack that he carried. "Right here, sir!" He then pulled out a small portable radio, but not exactly the kind of radio Jimmy was looking for. "I don't really think that this'll get that good reception out of the Solar System, but if you want to give it a go, sir, I tend to lean towards American bluegrass myself."

The soldier next to the one with the stupid answer, this one about 12, smacked the other in the back of the head, knocking the helmet clean off. "Not THAT kind of radio, smart-ass! He meant the one that links together connections for our platoon." The soldier that had just spoken up then proceeded to scrounge around in his comrade's sack before pulling out a large, box-like device that appeared to be about as high as Jimmy's knee and as long as the length between his wrist and his elbow. Handing the large device to Jimmy, the soldier said, "There you go, sir, one platoon-level radio. I apologize for my brother here being a complete dumbass."

Jimmy simply shook his head before trying to see how to work the device. He easily established all of the commands and pressed the appropriate commands to have his message broadcast throughout the platoon. Picking up the little microphone attatched to the device, he said into it, "This is General Neutron, does anyone read me?"

There were 2 replies. One was, "I read you 5-by-5, General. This is First Luitenant Zhang."

The other was, "I hear you 5-by-5, sir. Master Sergeant Qiao reporting in."

"Can everyone in your ship hear you?" Jimmy asked both commanders.

"Affirmative on my end, sir," Zhang reported first after a momentary pause.

"They can now, sir," Qiao chimed in a little while later.

Jimmy nodded in satisfaction as he now tried to send his attention to all of the units unde rhis command meaning the units on all 3 dropships. "Alright. Now, I haven't been thoroughly briefed, but I do know what our prime objectives have to be. We have to infiltrate the walled Yolkian city, capture the capitol building, and hold it until the main force gets there. What I want all of you to do when we touch down is to get out of the ships as quietly as possible. There's no telling what dirty tricks Goobot might have up his robotic hands. When eveyone's out, we'll advance towards the capitol building as carefully as possible. Stay alert and try to look out for anymore traps."

"30 seconds until we reach the city!" the pilot cried from the cockpit.

Jimmy nodded in acceptance of this new information. "Right. Luitenant, Sergeant, get your men ready. Expect to meet resistance." Afterwards, Jimmy cut off the communications and handed the radio back to the soldier with the sack. Taking a deep breath, Jimmy said to everyone in the crew compartment. "We have to do this as quickly as possible. If there are any civillians in the city, that either means that any agents the Rebel Yolkians have sent to evacuate the place have been killed or there never were any in the city to begin with. In either case, we have to be very careful when we get out of the ship. I know that the ships making their approach would probably wake up the entire city, but that's why we have to be careful."

A silence fell over the crew compartment as the ships rocked this way and that from the engines blasting out jet fuel burned at super-high temperatures. "General," the pilot said from the cockpit, "I think I found a suitable LZ. Do you want to confirm?"

Jimmy nodded as he went back to the cockpit. The pilot pointed over to a large building that looked kind of like a mansion one would find in the American Deep South somewhere in Alabama or maybe even in the rural parts of Georgia. Nevertheless, it looked like where an important person would want to work or live, considering the surrounding buildings, mostly farms and mills. Jimmy nodded in satisfaction as the pilot caught the gesture and radioed in the LZ coordinates to his wingmen.

The dropships circled around the capitol a little bit before gathering in a circular formation nearby the building's supposed entrance. Once the dropships touched the ground, Jimmy hurried back to the crew compartment where he found that the boarding ramp was down and the soldiers that were in the compartment were slowly making their way outside, the only sounds made being the unavoidable **_CLANK-CLANK_** of steel-toed army boots on the metal ramps.

Eventually, Jimmy too found himself at the bottom of the ramp as his soldiers proceeded to look around for any possible signs for an ambush. Looking around, Jimmy saw that he was the last one off of the ships. Whispering, he said, "Everyone, form up on me. Make it tight." He wouldn't have to worry about silence, however, since the sound of the engines of the dropships as they ascended more than covered their approach as the 3 aircraft sped back to attack the retreating Yolkian force several miles away.

At his order, all 44 units under Jimmy's command, including the ones from Retroville, formed a tight box behind him. Cindy stepped out of the box to stand next to Jimmy as he began to creep towards the steps leading up to the front porch of the administrative estate. As soon as he reached the stairs, he quickly motioned for everyone to follow him as he ran up as the stairs as quickly and as quietly as possible.

After about 20 seconds of stair climbing, Jimmy had reached the top of the stairs and looked around cautiously as his group began to reform on the patio of the Yolkian who owned the property, most likely the mayor of the large farming community. He then creeped under a window and pressed his ear against the wooden window shutters.

"Father," he heard someone say inside in a feminine, Southern accent. "I beg of you, please reconsider! If we are truly at war with warriors of the gods, then we must leave Yolkus. We must make amends with these warriors so that we may have peace."

"Nonsense, daughter!" Jimmy heard another voice yell. Cindy followed Jimmy's lead and pressed her ear against the window shutters as well. "These 'Enforcers' are heretics, infidels, blasphemis propehts that dare to dishonor the name of Our Divine Lord Poultra. We need not fear them."

"Father!" the daughter cried again, sounding close to tears. "Please, for the sake of our family, we must leave. Brother and Mother have already started to pack. The entre town has evacuated as well. I shall leave too, with or without your approval, but I know that our family cannot stand without you. Father, please. Come with us. I'm sure there is a safe haven somewhere in the universe."

"I shall do no such thing! I was born on Yolkus, and if need be I shall die on Yolkus!" The father declared in defiance.

As the two inside the building continued to argue, Jimmy asked quietly, "Does anyone have a battery, a pair of glasses, and a laser pointer?"

There was a moment of pause before someone some ways away from Jimmy replied, "I think I've got some batteries in my pocket. Always keep 'em handy in case I want to use my iPod." The soldier who spoke up walked up and gave a battery to Jimmy.

Next, a rather skinny soldier who looked no older than 9 with a Recruit's insignia took off his glasses and gave them to Jimmy. "I don't need them to fight."

"Eh, I always use this to annoy Miss Fowl when she squawks more than 5 times a day," said Butch as he drew a cylindrical laser pointer. "It nearly blinded her one time."

Jimmy nodded as he took all 3 items and used his scientific intellect to find the power control on the electroaxe he now owned and powered it down so that it only produced as much energy as a small welding tool. The first step in is little experiment was to weld together the top of the battery to the bottom of the laser pointer. He then reached into his pocket and drew a power transfer and amplification unit, or PTAU, an invention of his from a month ago.

"By transfering power from this normal Triple A Battery to the laser pointer's main power source and then amplifying it further," Jimmy narrated as he welded, "in theory, I can increase the wave frequencies of the projected visible light into X-ray waves." He then took his X-ray pointer and shone it through the lense of the glasses. "However, due to the point at which the light is directed by the laser's optics, it can only produce a single beam of X-rays. I can compensate this, however, by shining it through a piece of glass, such as the lense on these glasses, and thus refract the X-ray waves and throw a much larger field of projection." He then turned on his device. "Observe."

True to his word, when the modified laser pointer shone its beam through the lense of the soldier's glasses, it projected not a small red dot on the side of the house but rather a large circle that gave a very clear view of the house's interior, for the most part. They could all now see what awaited them.

There were only 2 Yolkians in the house's supposed living room, as indicated by the Victorian-esque fireplace and possibly 60" plasma screen TV, one wearing something that looked like a American Southern colonial dress while the other wore a brown leather vest with a brown suit over it and a brown cowboy hat on his domed head. Standing at attention on either side of the front door was a pair of Yolkian soldiers with electrostaffs clad in yellow armor as opposed to the usual green armor of the standard Yolkian soldier. Jimmy could only assume that the 2 were special political bodyguards.

"Please, Father, leave with us, I beg of you," the daughter cried as she clasped her hands to plead with her father.

"I will not leave my home because of a few ruffians," the father stated plainly.

Jimmy continued to analyze the first floor of the 4-story estate. Next to the living room was the staircase which would provide reasonble cover for anyone who wanted to sneak around, a dark shadow being cast by the staircase's figure upon contact with the light thrown towards it by the Yolkian chandelier dangling over the dining room which was perhaps across the room from the stairs and the living room. Jimmy could also see a glimpse of what would have to be the kitchen.

"So what now?" Cindy asked from his right.

Jimmy looked around the room some more before giving Butch back his modified laser pointer and the soldier his glasses. "I saw a kitchen in the back of the floor." He then waved his hand to gesture towards 10 of the soldiers. "Go around back and see if there's a door. If there is, infiltrate the uilding from their as quickly as possible, but don't show yourself until you hear us go in. Trust us you will."

The 10 nodded and made their way around the house as stealthily as possible on the wooden surface of the porch.

"Everyone else, find a door, a window, anything that can provide access into the building," Jimmy ordered. "We bust our way in. Don't kill the civillians, that politician could give us some useful information. Wait for my mark." At his command, the 30 remaining units from Shandong's 10th Platoon gathered around the front door with Cindy and Jimmy poised to lead the attack. Meanwhile, Nick, Butch, and Sheen had placed themselves in front of the 3 windows on the front side of the house. "Mark!" Jimmy yelled, loud enough so that probably anyone could have heard him.

Regardless, Jimmy brought the front door crashing down with his new electroaxe, taking down the two Yolkian guards in the process. At that very moment, the 2 civillian Yolkians backed themselves against the wall, frightened of the sudden intrusion. Behind him, Jimmy heard the 34 units that had come in with him file into the room, taking positions. "What are you doing here?!" the Yolkian politician yelled as more of Jimmy's troops began to file into the house.

Ignoring the mayor for the moment, Jimmy ordered his units as he saw that the 10 he had sent through the kitchen file in after taking out 2 Yokian guards posted there file in, "Men, secure this house. Take out any guards you find, but do not harm the civillians."

"What do you want here, Human?" the mayor spat, leaving his frightened place against the wall to appear more hostile and confrontational. He began to approach Jimmy before he was cut off by 2 Enforcers that crossed their qiang in an 'X' shape, effectively startling the Yolkian and blocking his path. In realization, he backed away to the wall again. "You... You're one of them, aren't you? You're an Enforcer. " He then looked at each and everyone of the 44 soldiers that were practically ransacking his home. "You all are."

Jimmy nodded as Cindy reported to him. "Major Estevez just reported in from upstairs. The 2nd and 3rd floors are empty except for a whole bunch of boxes. There are 2 Yolkians in the 4th floor along with a baby. We've decided to leave them alone for now."

Jimmy nodded. "Alright, just post some guards there, just in case. As for everyone else, have them take defensive positions outside." Cindy nodded as she walked off, a little startled at Jimmy's sudden coldness in voice.

"What do you want, Devil?" the mayor spat again as he now regained his resolve.

Jimmy held up his hands to tell the 2 Enforcers that blocked the mayor before to permit him to pass. "I just want to negotiate. I don't want any problems here."

"Well you've got a problem now, Propeht of Heresy," the alien yelled as he charged Jimmy with a nearby fire poker.

Seeing this, the 2 Enforcers that became Jimmy's unofficial bodyguards siezed the Yolkian mayor, one grabbing the fire poker out of his hands while the other simply grabbed both arms and twisted them around the Yolkian's back like a police officer would to an unruly suspect, minus the pepper spray or taser application.

Jimmy shook his head as he walked towards the mayor's daughter, who appeared to have a much smaller structural armor frame compared to her father. "Alright, since your father won't cooperate, I'll ask you," he said to the daughter who closed her eyes and shrunk away from Jimmy who became genuinely confused. 'Why?' Jimmy thought until he remembered the very large axe he wielded. rolling his eyes, he laid down the axe on top of a coffee table and approached the Yolkian female with as much of a friendly air as he could possibly convey to ease the poor alien lass. "It's alright, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Get away from my daughter!" the mayor yelled while attempting to get away from his captor.

Jimmy ignored the Yolkian mayor as he continued to coax the Yolkian female out of her frightened state. "I just want to negotiate. Do this, and I'll have your entire family evacuated to a safe place."

At this, the daughter slowly opened her eyes to look at Jimmy's face. Making a gulping sound, she asked him, "Are you... going to kill me?"

Jimmy shook his head as Cindy walked up to him. "I'm not going to hurt you. I only want to neogtiate so that all of the soldiers with me can get some rest before they put an end to your crazy dictator's regime."

"King Goobot is a great leader!" shouted the apprehended Yolkian mayor. "How dare you defile his name?!"

Again, they ignored the mayor. "Maybe I should deal with her," Cindy whispered into Jimmy's ear as she looked at the frightened Yolkian girl. "I think thi smight need a more delicate... woman's touch."

Jimmy nodded his head in agreement. "Alright," he said to the Yolkian girl as if he was talking to a small child. "I'm going to leave you with my dear friend Colonel Vortex." He then moved aside to let Cindy begin talking to the Yolkian girl. But before he left, he whispered into Cindy's ear, "Try to get anything you can." Cindy nodded before he left.

Walking up towards the Yolkian mayor, Jimmy tried his best to put on a mencaing, interrogative face using his knowledge on hostile facial exressions and body language. "Alright, so what do you have for me?" Jimmy said in am overly exaggereated Bad Cop voice, full with raspy throat and purposely thrown saliva that smeared the Yolkian's domed face. "This can either go the easy way or the hard way. I want to get some rest and so does everyone else here, so how about it? What can you tell me?"

The Yolkian mayor fixed his angry gaze on Jimmy as he snarled back, "You want to know what I can tell you, Human? Go to the deepest sectors of the Netherworld, Fiend!"

Jimmy brushed off the advanced form of the common 'Go to Hell' as he went over to pick up his electroaxe and sat down in a nearby chair. "I can wait all night. I'm sure that you don't want that. Come on, make this easy. Any minute now, the rest of the Enforcer force that I came with is going to take over this city. We can provide you and your family transport off of this planet, to Earth, to our Moon, to anywhere in the galaxy where you can live peaceful lives. But I can only promise that if you tell me something that can help end this war."

Again, the Yolkian mayor came back with a witty comeback. "Fine, you can kill yourself. that should end this, shouldn't it, Devil?"

Jimmy became all the more agitated as he began to sick into a state of thought, attempting to use his knowledge of Human psychology and twisting it to apply to Yolkian psychology. "Your god, Poultra. Your King Goobot failed to protect her, didn't he? Why should you serve a king that doesn't even have the power to save your god? Come on, talk to me."

At his words, the Yolkian snarled and lurched against his restrainer. "How dare you?! How dare you talk about Our Lord Poultra in such a way?! Blashemy! Pure blaspehmy!"

'Alright, not the best idea to talk about their god,' Jimmy mentally berated, beginning to run out of ideas. He couldn't resort himself to torture, that wasn't his style. Threatening him wasn't working and neither was bribery. Perhaps a little bit of patronization should work, after all, Sigmund Freud never failed him before. "Well, what do you want?"

"I want you to get out of my home and out of my city, Devil!" the mayor shouted.

Jimmy rubbed his temples. Alright, that was definitely a dead end. He then had an idea. Laying down his electroaxe once more, he ordered the soldier restraining the mayor to let him go. "There, you're free. Now, I've let you go. I'm going to be as civil to you as possible. What can I do for you? I am a fully capable inventor," Jimmy heard Cindy's instinctive scoff of disapproval, "and I'm sure that I can invent something that might make you want to tell me about any underground passageways, any laws or acts from King Goobot, anything that might make your stay in exile as short as possible so that you can come back to Yolkus and become mayor of a better town. I'm not a devil, although I did technically kill your god, but I only did it to save my parents. By all logic, you must be a smart Yolkian. Come on, what do you want that can help the both of us? I want to save my parents from your insane dictator, and I know that you want what's best for your family and your people."

After a long pause, the mayor finally broke. "Promise me that you will provide passage for my family off of this planet. I... I realize that our gracious king has not been so fair and gallant as he once was since his first defeat by you, Devil, and I cannot go on living under such a tyrant who demands so high taxes. He... he has drafted one of my sons into the military. I recieved a message yesterday that they have disappeared while on assignment in a far away star system. I wish to look for my sons. Allow us transit to safety, and I will... I will betray my crown."

Jimmy shook his head as he put the icing on the psychological cake. "No, you won't betray your king. He has already betrayed you." 'Sigmund Freud, you are a genius," Jimmy thought as the mayor began to lower himself into a neaby chair to match his new assosciate's position. "So what can you tell me?" He asked as he grabbed what would seem to be a pen and a nearby sheet of scrap paper.

The mayor lowered his eyes as he begrudgingly told Jimmy of things he thought to be useful. "There are rumors of a Yolktar breeding facility currently under construction in the next Ring over. I overheard it over a week ago at the local goo'lak cafe near here. I brushed it off as Rebel propoganda used to scare the young and the foolish into thinking that the government was going to enforce martial law opun us and had the conspirarator's arrested."

Jimmy nodded as he digested that information and wrote it down on his sheet of paper. "Okay, what else?"

The mayor looked at the ceiling as if trying to recall something. "A letter... I remember that a letter came here yesterday afternoon."

"What was it about?" Jimmy asked as he tried to press on. "Can you remember?"

The mayor again tilted upwards to stare at the ceiling of his home. "Well, I remember that it was from King Goobot himself. He wanted me to evacuate my city and become a general for his army. My daughter and I were arguing over it earlier. I was about to accept his offer and join the Grand Yolkian Military."

Jimmy nodded as he wrote down the data. 'Looks like Goobot's running our of options,' he analyzed as he assessed the practicallity of enrolling civillians in the middle of 2 wars, one a civil war and another an invasion defense. "Where is this letter now?"

"Upstairs, in my office," the mayor answered.

Jimmy nodded as he reviewed his notes. "What about civillians? Are there any in this town or the next town over?"

The mayor shrugged. "As for my town, no one is left. They've all evacuated the city. I think that they've gone farther inside the Rings. At the rate this war of yours is going, they'll have nowhere else to go."

Jimmy nodded as he drifted off into deep thought before snapping back to reality a few seconds later. "Alright, I think that's all I'll need," he said before standing back up.

"Wait," the mayor stopped him, "you promised that you would provide passage off of Yolkus."

"And I will," Jimmy said in an attempt to reassure his informant. "But we don't have any aircraft right now. If you could wait for a little bit longer, we can have you and your family off of Yolkus."

Relieved, yet still unsure, the mayor simply sighed and resigned upstairs to his room. Just then, Cindy walked up to Jimmy. "Hey, I've finished talking with Yoola, that Yolkian girl," she said to him as said Yolkian retired to her quarters as well. "She says that one of her brothers had joined the Yolkian military and had dissappeared while on assignment over a week ago. You don't think that..."

"What?" Jimmy asked her as he walked over to the window where Sheen had busted in, the shutters now mere wood fragments scattered across the floor.

"Well, we captured and turned Ibsol about a week ago, right?" Cindy asked, joining Jimmy by the window to look outside at the Yolkian sky, the heavenly blanket glistening with stars.

Jimmy nodded as he tried to fit the clues in his mind. "Well, I guess that might be a way to get even more information out of them. Reunite the mayor with his son, and then fulfiill my promise to transport him somewhere off of Yolkus. I guess Instillation Alpha will be a refugee camp pretty soon."

"Why's that?" Cindy asked as she continued to watch the stars with Jimmy, leaning on him for the mean time.

"The mayor told me that the civillians haven't left the planet," Jimmy answered. "They've only pushed themselves deeper into the city. Pretty soon, we won't be able to go anywhere since there'd be too many civillians and enemy soldiers to get through."

The two stood in silence for a while mulling over this new information. The silence was broken, however, when a W-12 Enforcer shouted from behind Jimmy, "Grand General Neutron, sir! Grand General Wang requests to know our current situational status. Orders?"

Jimmy and Cindy both turned around quickly at the sudden disruption before relaxing. "Our forces have already defeated theYolkian force?" he asked.

The soldier shook his head. "I don't think so, sir. He's on hold on the radio."

Jimmy looked at Cindy who nodded. With that, Jimmy followed the soldier upstairs to where the radio manager had presumedly set up his station. After scaling the flight of stairs, Jimmy found the radio manager sitting at a wet bar, the radio sitting on the bar's surface. Jimmy then walked around the pool table the Yolkian mayor also had in his luxury room where he was greeted by the radio manager. "Sir, Grand General Wang wants to speak with you immediately."

Jimmy nodded as he took the radio's speaker/microphone and said, "General Wang?"

From the other side of the radio, Shaojia answered, "General Neutron, we hav eto make this quick. The Yolkian force is coming in on your position mighty quick. Prepare to repel attackers."

At the new information, Jimmy felt like his heart had dropped into his stomach, the gastric acid eating away a the muscle fibers and tissues that composed the human heart. "How many of them?"

"Well, those dropships you sent in a round-trip did one Hell of a job on them, that much I can say," Shaojia commented. "They went at them for a good 10-15 minutes maybe before they ran out of ammo. I say that they brought them down to maybe 45,000. I've already sent back reinforcements on those same dropships, a platoon and 8 soldiers with SAWs to help with the defense. We could keep doing that until we get everyone across, but that might take too long, considering that we still have over 11,000 soldiers left, maybe closer to 11,500."

Jimmy smiled in pride that his plan worked. At least he would have less Yolktars to deal with. "Alright, how long do you think it will take until they reach the city?"

"Maybe 10 minutes, probably less," Shaojia said gravely from the other side of the radio. "If you can hold them off for about 20 minutes, my forces can flank them from the rear."

Jimmy nodded as he finished digesting all of the information. "Alright, I'll go set up now."

"Good luck, with only 84 troops, you're gonna' need it," Shaojia said before cutting off the communications.

Jimmy then looked around towards the other 2 soldiers in the room. "Well, you heard him, let's go."

"Yes, sir!" The two soldiers said before following him downstairs.

Upon reaching the bottom of the stairs, Cindy approached them and asked, "What was that all about?"

"I'll tell you when we get everyone assembled outside," Jimmy said as he continued to walk outside of the Yolkian estate. Soon, he was in front of all 44 soldiers in his defense force, all of them milling about and checking out the town for any possible threats. "Attention!" Jimmy yelled, so loud that his throat almost went hoarse. At his order, all 44 soldiers gathered in a formation in front of Jimmy. "I have just been contacted by General Wang. He says that the Yolkian force is about to attack us, all 45,000 of them. We must defend this city at all costs. Reinforcements should be here any second-" Just as he was about to say 'now,' the sound of machine gun fire interrupted the him as 3 dropships landed a few meters away from their position.

Out of the dropships exited 48 W-12 Enforcers, 8 of them wielding the Support Automatic Weapons or SAWs. One of the soldiers stepped out of the group saluted. "General Neutron, sir! Luitenant Meng of the 48th Guangdong Platoon. We are ready to help you defend this city."

Then, another soldier stepped from out of the group. "Sir, Staff Sergeant Qiao of the 248th Support Assault Weapons Crew of the W-12 Enforcer Legion. My men and I will help you defend this city as long as we can, sir."

Jimmy nodded as he looked to where the dropships had come from and had now taken of to, somewhere left of his relative position. "Alright, everyone, let's double-time it over there. I'll give you more orders once I assess the situation."

All of the soldiers grunted in acknowledgement as the 93 soldiers that had been given the task of defending the Yolkian city ran in the direction Jimmy had ordered them. In 5 minutes, they had all reached the Yolkian city walled that appeared to be as high as a 5-story house. Spread out at even intervals stood watch towers with transport lifts positioned at the base of the towers. Directly in front of Jimmy was the gate that allowed entrance into the city.

Jimmy quickly went to work on the scenario as he began to see a small glimpse of sunlight on the Yolkian horizon. Thanks to his genius, the revolution of Yolkus now matched that of Earth, giving it Earth hours which would then make it... '4:55,' Jimmy thought as he began to grind his teeth. They were running out of time if they wanted to rest before continuing the advance.

Finally, Jimmy settled on the game plan. Pointing to the the 2 watch towers that framed the city gate, both at an equal 35 feet apart from the gate. "I want 2 SAW units in each of those towers." He then took out his laser pistol and shot 4 holes into the wooden gate at about waist height with 4 additional holes above the previous holes at about eye level. "The remaining 4 SAW units will take up positions where those holes are. You will fire from there and try to keep the Yolktars at bay for as long as you can. Everyone else, make your own firing holes from anywhere in between the 2 watch towers."

The 88 W-12 units took their positions precisely as Jimmy had ordered them to. All along the perimeter, Enforcers lined up against the wall, murder holes punched through the wall's weak infrastructure. Jimmy found himself wedged inbetween Cindy and Sheen by a wall with his electroaxe shoved in the dirt.

He saw them, roughly 60 feet away and closing in. "Fire at will! Keep them back!" he shouted before pulling the trigger to his laser pistol while gunshots rang around him at almost deafening volumes. Looking through his eye hole, he aimed soley for the armor which heknew would take out at least 2 extra Yolktars. So far, his plan was working. The 4 SAW units in the towers were raining lead all over theYolktars that attempted to break through, causing explosions to roar out from the mass that stretched far and wide.

Meanwhile, the SAW units on the ground with everyone else were doing a very good job on keeping the Yolktars back, firing constant streams of lead that would always connect. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a SAW soldier wave his gun left and right to make an arcing parabola of lead, effectively destroying several Yolktars.

The rest of the defense force, a total of 85 soldiers from both W-12 and N-12, was doing a decent job as well. Jimmy continued to fire his laser pistol into the swarms of Yolktars that threatened to advance. Although it wasn't a rapid firing weapon, due to the highly volatile nature of the heated plasma within the gun's chamber and the overall frailty of Yolkian-issued armor, the laser pistol did almost as good as a job as the SAWs, the laser beams piercing multiple Yolktars at once. And since whatever plasma Professor Calamitous had decided to use for the weapon, it disposed of the need to reload, as evident by Jimmy who had counted that he had fired at least 30 rounds in a row.

Despite this, the virtually leaderless Yolktars were still able to advance, Jimmy estimating them to have advanced about 10 feet in the past 5 minutes. Jimmy continued to fire with his laser pistol, rounds piercing the weak Yolkian-issued armor and hitting several more behind it while the ensuing mutliple explosions took out aliens to the side which in turn caused a chain effect of up to 5 Yolktars wide until it finally hit a dead spot.

However, things began to turn sour when Jimmy heard, "Ah, I'm out!" Jimmy turned towards the voice and saw that it was from one of the SAW units by the door. Then it hit him.

_-Think Cycle-_

_...whatever plasma Professor Calamitous had decided to use for the weapon, it disposed of the need to reload..._

_...he had fired at least 50 rounds in a row..._

_...firing constant streams of lead..._

_-End Think Cycle-_

"Brain Blast!" Jimmy shouted, startling everyone nearby. Jimmy left his post, grabbing his electroaxe on the way, and ran over to the SAW soldier that had run out of ammo. "Soldier, give me your gun." Reluctantly, the soldier complied and Jimmy took the automatic weapon from him. Talking to himself as he worked, he took out the power cell of the laser pistol which was about the size of a single bullet and inserted it into the firing chamber of the weapon. "If this power cell can eliminate the need for reloading for the laser pistol, maybe..." He then welded the firing chamber shut with his electroaxe. Putting the gun back into the hole, he pulled the trigger, causing a barrage of laser bolts to exit the barrel at such incredible velocity that it almst seemed to be a single lance of plasma energy. "Eureka! It works." Handing the newly modified weapon over to its previous owner, Jimmy checked his laser pistol. Pulling the trigger while pointing the gun barrel towards the ground, he wasn't surprised when nothing came out. Shaking his head in dissappointment of what he hoped to have been a miracle, Jimmy began to run around and ask for laser pistols from the 84 non-SAW wielding units.

Once he had gathered 7 laser pistols, he extracted the power sources from each one and installed it into each of the SAW units. Now, with nothing left to shoot with, Jimmy, his friends, and the 3 W-12 soldiers he had taken laser pistols from all stood back and watched from one of the watch towers as the battle carried on, the new and improved SAWs more than compensating for the loss of 8 firing units.

However, much to Jimmy's dismay, the Yolktars were still able to make progress, now 30 feet away from them. With another 10 minutes gone, Jimmy was eagerly awaiting the arrival of reinforcements as the still advancing Yolktarian force grew closer to them. 'If we can just hold for maybe 5 more minutes,' Jimmy thought as he gripped his electroaxe tighter in his hands.

His gripped on them loosened, however, when he saw a large dust cloud closing in maybe 80 feet behind the impeded Yolktars. 'A dust storm/' Jimmy thought skeptically. He squinted his eyes and looked closer. He was surprised to see thousands of W-12 Enforcers charging towards the rear flank of the retreating Yolktars. It appeared that contact would be deadly.

Again, Jimmy's brain went to work as chapters from Sun Tzu's Art of War and several military concepts he had skimmed over came to mind. Turning to his defending force below as they continued to keep the Yolktars, now 20 feet from them, away, he yelled, "Keep firing! The main force is almost here!"

A cry of victory was heard from below as the soldiers appeared to actually shoot faster. Jimmy's morale booster worked efficiently as the Yolktars were practically slaughtered, though they still managed to advance a little bit. From his position in the watch tower, Jimmy used a complex algorithm to calculate the number of units the Yolktars now had left. An astonished Jimmy murmured the result out loud, barely louder than a whisper. "25,000 soldiers..." That was more than half of what was left when they had first flown over them on their way to the walled city they were now defending.

"What was that?" Cindy asked from next to him, hearing what he had said.

Jimmy merely smiled slightly. "There are only 25,000 enemy soldiers left. If we can hold on for 5 more minutes, Shaojia can flank them in the rear, and we'll just help out a little bit more."

At that, Cindy and the rest of their friends smiled along with the 3 soldiers with them in the tower. Jimmy eagerly looked back to the Enforcer main force, now 40 feet away and closing in faster than ever. Jimmy could now visibly see General Tian and Shaojia at the front of the Enforcer front. A loud explosion from the middle of the Enforcer force made Jimmy involuntarily flinch. Seconds later a rocket connected with the Yolktars' rear flank. A cry of victory erupted from all of the defending units as they continued to fire.

The Yolktars were now taking heavy losses from both their front and their rear flanks, Jimmy's unit obliterating them with super-heated plasma, Shaojia's force slaughtering them with... well everything else. Another rocket made contact with the Yolktars' rear before a Howitzer shell landed on the middle, causing a Ripple Effect that decimated the Yolktarian force, taking them down to an astonishing 20,000.

Despite the double assault from the front and back, the Yolktars were still stubbornly pushing their way towards the outer city walls, now 15 feet away. "Come on," Jimmy yelled to his friends and the 3 Enforcers in the watch tower with him as he stepped onto the lift that took back down to the ground. Yelling up to the 6 others, he said, "We have to prepare to repel of they actually do break through."

Walking off to the main gate, Jimmy ordered the units on the ground to pull back and just fire through the door. Forming a small wall, the 6 SAW units kneeled down on the ground as they tore away at the door, eventually obliterating it while destroying th Yolktars on the other side that were now 5 feet from breaching the city.

3 more Howitzer shells landed on top of the Yolktar force, each killing hundreds of the aliens by way of a Ripple Effect. Meanwhile, Jimmy watched on as the Yolktars began to grow closer until finally they were maybe a foot away from entering the city. "Alright, SAW units, get to those 2 watch towers and try to reduce the amount of Yolktars coming into the city. Let us handle the rest." Another Howitzer explosion erupting very close to the front of the Yolktars' retreating force made Jimmy add, "On second thought, just keep firing and do not move until I say so." There were barely audible grunts as the SAW units continued to fire along with the 77 W-12 soldiers that still had ranged weapons. Jimmy turned to the radio manager for the 10th Shandong and told him to contact Shaojia. Upon accomplishing that, Jimmy picked up the microphone and said, "This is General Neutron. General Wang, I request that you only fire at the rear flank of the enemy force. The Yolktars have reached the city, and I have to push them back now."

"Understood," was Shaojia's sole reply. "My men have already reached the rear flank anyways. We'll sandwich them. General Wang out." With that, the communications went dead. Jimmy returned the radio to the radio manager and stood up with his electroaxe gripped tightly in his hand.

"Alright," Jimmy started, "SAWs, stand up and begin to advance. Don't break off until I tell you to." Following his orders, the SAW units advanced towards the Yolktars, pushing them back just slightly, but more or less just killing them where they stood in the archway where the gate once stood. Once they were about 3 feet away from the Yolktars, still being held back by the SAW units along with the others who continued to fire their pistols. "Break off!" Jimmy ordered the SAWs as the Yolktars began to slowly grow a little closer. "Get to the towers!"

The SAW units instantly fled, firing from the sides as they ran to the towers. The moment the SAWs fled, all 85 soldiers, N-12 and W-12 both, charged the Yolktars, pushing them back slightly so that they were just outside of the city. With his captured electroaxe in hand, he used all muscles he may have had toswing it in a powerful and wide arc, destroying a total of 5 Yolktars in a single swipe. When at least 3 electrostaffs came down on him, he used his Yolkian halberd to block all 3 before shifting his weight, spinning around, and cutting down his would-be assailants.

Out of the corner of his eye, Jimmy checked to see how Cindy was doing. Without her qiang, she sliced away at the hordes of Yolktars with her dao. In Jimmy's opinion, it appeared as if she was doing a very graceful dance, stepping sideways whilst pushing her blade, spinning it and tucking it blade-out under her arm before jumping into the air and doing a spinning roundhouse kick, landing in a low stance before jumping up again to send the Yolktar in front of her flying... A beautiful dance it was and for the Yolktars, a very deadly one too.

Jimmy spun his electroaxe like a Shaolin monk, this time not hitting himself as he spun it, taking out Yolktars like a sideways blender. As he demolished the Yolktars with his spinning blender-axe of doom, he caught sight of Sheen caught in a fight with a Yolktar. The hyper Latino swung his qiang like an oversized bat while the Yolktar dodged all of his swings. Well, almost all. Sheen's last swing sliced the eyestocks off of the Yolktar, leaving hte alien blind and vulnerable to Sheen's thuggish kick that sent the alien into 2 of its comrades, killing them all.

An electroaxe coming his direction caused Jimmy to refocus his attention. Blocking the side attack with his Yolkian halberd, Jimmy used the electroaxe's non-lethal end as a pivot on the ground, as he swung himself around to roundhouse kick the alien. Using the momentum caused by his spin to his advantage, Jimmy then took the electroaxe out of the ground and swung it with his momentum, killing any Yolktars close to him in a 270 degree radius. Jimmy turned back around and used the momentum of his turn to take care of the other 180 degrees.

Swinging with his electroaxe like a man working his way through a jungle with a machete, Jimmy found himself checking up on another of his comrade's, Nick. Like Cindy, he had somehow lost his qiang in the midst of battle and was now slicing away with his dao. However, instead of witnessing another sword ballet, Jimmy was watching a real life re-enactment of a Jason Voorhees movie. Nick was using his dao with much power, every swing leaving him moderately open to an attack from the side or from behind. However, Nick was unconcerned of the danger he unknowingly put himself in very time he attacked as he sliced off the arms of a Yolktar before extracting the alien's brain from out of its domed head. Nick paid no mind to the acid that began to slightly burn his skin as he crushed the brain under his boot and wiped the acidic Yolktar goo on his pant leg.

Another attack from in front of him caused Jimmy to refocus his attention once more, rolling out of the way of his attacker, and countering with an upward slice that split the alien from repulsorlift to domed glass helmet. Getting back up to his feet, Jimmy sliced at another nearby Yolktar before looking around him. It appeared as if the double assault was absolutely devastating for the Yolktars as he was pretty far away from the city, perhaps 40 feet away from it. In his path lay not a single living artificial alien.

However, he was just very far out. Taking care of the aliens diretly in front of him, Jimmy turned back around and ran to rejoin with his line, his electroaxe held out to his right side to take out Yolktars along the way as he ran. After 4 minutes of running, Jimmy had taken out over 200Yolktars just by holding his electroaxe that was as long as 3 Yolktars bound together side-by-side. An impressive feat indeed, one that Jimmy never thought he would ever accomplish. And then he had an even better idea.

Once he reached the line, he amplified the axe's electrical power with his watch, jumped into the air, spun around so that he was facing the enemy, and slammed the weapon down on the ground. Just as Jimmy theorized, the usual specks of iron and nickel found in the ground of any non-gaseous planet reacted with the super-powered axe's electric waves, conducting them until they met other metal objects or electrical fields, such at the Yolktars and their electrostaffs.

In an awesome spiderweb of electrical energy, Jimmy's attack to the ground caused the electrical energy in the axe's head to react with the minerals in the ground. The electricity traveled along several random streams, all leading towards the Yolktarian horde. Upon meeting the first Yolktars, the electricity jumped out from the ground and electrecuted the aliens, frying them inside of their armor like hard-boiled eggs. The electricity streamed even farther and electrecuted even more Yolktars, going farther and farther, expanding in a wide-spread stream of electrical death.

* * *

Shaojia and General Tian both watched in amazement as the electricity spread quicker and farther. General Tian glanced at Shaojia before asking, "What do you think that is?" 

Shaojia stayed silent for a few seconds as he watched the electricity continue to jump around from Yolkar to Yolktar electrecuting anything in its path. "I don't know, but I have a feeling that this is Neutron's doing."

"Neutron?" Tain asked skeptically. "With all due respect to General Neutron, he doesn't come off to me as a very powerful monk or a demon. Albeit, different universe, slightly different rules, but... He comes off more as a scientist really."

Shaojia nodded as a bolt of electricity actually jumped upwards from out of one of the Yolktars, exploding in the air like a battle rocket. "He is a scientist. I happen to remember hearing about a 'Benjamin Franklin' fellow durin ghte American's colonial period. He somehow captured the power of lightning and made electricity. He was a scientist, too. Maybe that's what General Neutron's doing."

"Using that new electroaxe of his as a conduit of some sort?" General Tian asked. Shaojia nodded. Tian looked back towards teh swarms of Yolktars in front of them as the electricity began to work its way towards the rear, anything that was unfortunate enough to be in the arc of electricity's path electrocuted indefinitely, leaving only charred remains. "I suppose, but..."

Shaojia understood what Tian's hesitant reply meant. "I know. It's not... His intelligence I mean... it's incredible for someone of his age, but I guess that's what others would say of our physical strength." Shaojia shook his head. "His Holyness, the Jade Emperor gave me this assignment Himself, you know."

"He did?" Tian asked incredulously.

Shaojia nodded. "His Divine Worship told me to keep Neutron alive at all costs. The same went for his friends. I think I know why. Neutron's intellect will be extremely useful to the Enforcers. I have a feeling that His Imperial Divinity has been told that or at least thinks that something is going to cause Armageddon to come around too early for the gods' tastes, and it'll be something scientific that causes it."

Tian nodded in agreement as the waves of electricity continued to spread towards the rear of the Yolktarian formation. "Should we tell him?"

Shaojia shook his head as the electricity finally killed off the last Yolktars. As the last alien fell, Shaojia's entire force could see Jimmy, standing with his electroaxe smashed to the ground looking at what his attack had wrought as well. "No," Shaojia finally said. "Once the entire force is settled in, contact His Holyness the Jade Emperor and secure the meeting area in a secluded and private area."

General Tian bowed humbly and said, "As you wish."

Shaojia looked back across the plain where over 20,000 Yolktars had been slain by Jimmy's attack, thanks to his knowledge of the sciences. Shaojia cracked a wry smile before yelling towards Jimmy, "Well done, General Neutron. I think we've done enough fighting for today."

* * *

**Afterthought:**

Author: I'm pretty proud about this chapter.

Shaojia: Why? The ending sucked.

Jimmy: Shaojia's right. And what about that precursor of Armageddon? Are we all just going to die in the end?

Cindy: If you don't start explaining now, I'm gonna' punch you in the face.

Emily: Well, I have to say that the parts I worked on went pretty well.

Jimmy: Yeah, they were way better than Author's sad attempts at fluff.

Author: Well, enough Me-bashing, let's get on to our reviewer mail.

(A heavy metal band plays in the background.)

Heavy Metal Band: Reviews! Fuck yeah! Reviews comin' to save the day yeah! Reviews!

(Everyone looks around awkwardly)

Author: Okay then...

Jimmy: Our first review comes from regular reviewer, Kitty 32192. She writes: _"you gotta luv the afterthoughts! yur sister is really good at writing fluff. keep on updatin!"_

Emily: Thanks, Kit. Big Bro already told me that the next chapter will be up maybe a week after this one, so just hang on.

Cindy: And i'm an exister writes: _"yay! a new chapter! nice going bebe"_

Author: Um, thanks?

Jimmy: Well, it looks like we've actually gotten through an Afterthought without Author somehow maiming himself so-

(Shaojia taps Jimmy in the shoulder and points to Author who is in the General Lee from the Dukes of Hazard TV series)

Author: (Beings driving towards a steep cliff) Yee-haw! (Honks horn)

(Author flies off of steep cliff. Time freezes and an off-screen voice is heard)

Off-screen voice: Them Author boys better start using their brains, if they get out of this alive I mean.

(Normal time. Author crashes into a mountain of steaks.)

Author: (Falling down to his death) Somebody get me the A-1...!

Jimmy: We should have seen that coming.


	15. Deliberations Before Dawn

**Chapter 15**

**Deliberations Before Dawn**

**(Subtitles for Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

_**SOUND EFFECTS**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron. **

* * *

_"Who are we to question the intentions of God Almighty? Our sole duty as Enforcers is to carry out the mandates of Heaven." --Grand General Santino Guiliani of G-15_

* * *

Jimmy tossed in turn in the mattress provided for him as he attempted to get some rest. Nearly an hour ago, Jimmy had used his intellect to destroy 20,000 Yolktars in one blow. It was all thanks to his new electroaxe that he was able to electrecute the Yolktarian force and end the nightly battle. Although, it could hardly be called nightly due to the fact that the Yolkian sun was almost up, now seeming to rise and set with the Earth's Sun. 

Now, at 6:30 in the morning, Jimmy had finally given up on trying to sleep and got up from his mattress. The mayor he had interrogated had agreed to allow him and Cindy to lodge in one of his 4 guest rooms, all of which on the 3rd floor. General Tian had the one across the hall from Jimmy and Cindy's while Shaojia was given the one next door to theirs. Nick, Sheen, and Butch had all agreed, although a little reluctantly, to share the room next to General Tian's, making their quarters a little cramped.

Kicking off the cotton blanket he had been given by a W-12 soldier, Jimmy quietly rose from his mattress, more or less a futon really. He slowly crept over to the door as to not disturb Cindy. Opening the door, he slid out and closed the door behind him, stepping into the darkness of the corridor, illuminated only by a faint lamp light down the hall near the staircase. He walked down the corridor. Maybe some time oustide might help him relax enough so that he could go to sleep.

As he descended the stairs, he remembered what Shaojia had suggested to him after the battle. "We've advanced pretty far," he had said. "I don't know about you, but my men could take a bit of a breather and maybe a bite to eat before they head back out. Your call, though. Tell me when you wake up when you want to head out."

In a way, Jimmy just wanted to take the entire day off, but he knew that his parents' lives were in danger every second that they stayed in Goobot's dungeons. He walked over to the window by the bar on the 2nd floor after he had finished descending the stairs. It was getting brighter outside as the Yolkian sun rose. At about that time, Jimmy knew that all of the other Enforcer forces were just waking up and preparing for another day of battle.

Voices downstairs on the 1st floor made Jimmy curious as he stepped away from the window and crept towards the staircase. Like the kid from that Christmas song about seeing their mom kissing Santa, Jimmy hid behind the concealed part of the staircase, crouched to minimize detection. Maybe a little dawn-time spying might help him sleep.

"Sir, I've contacted His Holyness," Jimmy heard someone say that sounded a lot like General Tian. "He will see you in the tavern across the street."

"Thank you, Quanbei-jun," Jimmy heard someone that sounded like Shaojia reply. "Get some rest. I don't know when General Neutron wants to have us move out so we better take advantage of whatever rest we have."

Nothing else was said as Jimmy saw General Tian, or rather, Quanbei, walk towards the steps. For simply the primal fear of detection, Jimmy scurried back up the stairs quietly and went back to the window, looking natural. Jimmy could just feel Quanbei's questioning eyes when the general asked, "General Neutron, sir, what are you doing up at this hour?"

Jimmy turned around naturally and replied truthfully, "I couldn't sleep so I thought that if I walked around a little bit, I might be able to tire myself out."

Quanbei nodded as he simply ascended the other flight of stairs up to the 3rd floor. "Well, I hope you are able to get some rest, sir. Grand General Wang believes that we'll all need the rest." Stopping mid-flight, Quanbei turned back and added, "Oh, and sir, Grand General Wang is having a highly classified meeting with the other generals in the tavern across the street. It's Code Alpha Triple 7 Classified, extremely private so I ask that you don't go around there."

Jimmy nodded and with that, Quanbei left for his room. Now, Jimmy's curiosity was definitely peaked. Jimmy crept back to his position by the staircase. When he heard the sound of the closing of a door, Jimmy descended the staircase. Seeing that no one was there, he walked into the living room and peered out of the window that Sheen had torn down during their infiltration of the house. Shaojia was walking towards the tavern across the street, a long stretch of road that looked like any road in Retroville except, well, not made of asphalt or concrete or any combination of the two.

Waiting for the young general to enter the tavern, Jimmy noticed that Shaojia was more jittery than usual, occasionally looking around as if suspecting that someone was following which was partially true. A few minutes after Shaojia entered the tavern, Jimmy exited the house and acted casual, stretching as he left the house and walking around the porch before setting his sights on the tavern across the street, its appearance akin to a saloon found in an old Western film, right down to the swinging doors.

Looking around the street, Jimmy saw nothing that could reveal his position. There were no soldiers outside, nothing. All of the soldiers had taken lodgings in the abandoned buildings while the medical camp stayed outside of the fort, the medics not wanting to move the camp until all pateints are stabilized, but Jimmy could see a few tents nearby at a small intersection about 20 feet down the street from him, near the city entrance.

Using the shadows that the dawn light did not yet eliminate, Jimmy successfully snuck over to the tavern Shaojia had entered. Sitting down under a window, he waited quietly as he began to pcik up the first few words from Shaojia. "Milord, I'm sorry for disturbing you at such an early hour."

"You forget that I do not slumber," replied a booming voice with a deep tone and thick Asian accent. "Now, what is it that is so important that you contact me."

"If I may, milord, I would like to ask you of the true objective of this assignment."

A long pause followed before the other being replied, "I sense that you have to realize what your true destiny is, Emperor Wang."

Jimmy heard the slight hitch of the throat before Shaojia answered, "I have... I have thought about, yes, but milord-"

"Are you aware of what the Mandate of Heaven is, Young Ruler?" the other interrupted, his voice booming around the room he and Shaojia spoke in. Though whoever Shaojia was speaking with was apparently of great wisdom and high rank for Shaojia to address him with such formality, the other's voice sent chills down Jimmy's spine.

After a contemplative pause, Shaojia answered, "It declares that the emperor is someone who has been deemed just enough to rule over China."

"Yes, and as such, you are in my favor, Young One," the other concluded. "There is no need for so much formality. I know how complicated terms of discourse make you rather... uncomfortable."

Another long pause ensued, this time brought about by Shaojia's apparent lack of knowledge that the word 'discourse' meant conversation. Jimmy barely restrained a chuckled at that and listened to Shaojia's reply. "Very well, thank you, milord. But I would still like to discuss the matter of the one known as Jimmy Neutron." Upon hearing his name, Jimmy tensed involuntarily as he listened closer.

"Ah, yes. I have searched the High Council of Divine Purity. I have searched the records, questioned my fellow deities, yet I have yet to come across the lords of N-12." At the several mentions and references to heavenly beings and legislatures, Jimmy became even more perplexed. Was Shaojia speaking with a god? It all made sense, especially Shaojia's apparent subordination in tone of voice, but his scientific intellect absolutely laughed at the thought of such beings, himself being, in mere definition of the word, an atheist or one who did not believe in a higher power. Yet now...

"He is a scientist," Shaojia replied. "Perhaps since science seems to be his chief belief, then there is simply no deity for his universe."

"Perhaps..." the other figure drifted, "but it is highly unlikely. In my nearly 10 billion years of existence, I have yet to encounter a universe without a representative deity. I shall search further into this issue at noon." Another silence past, making Jimmy believe that the meeting was over and that he should leave, but the other continued, "I sense that you have other thoughts on your mind? Speak, if so."

"Earlier today," Shaojia started, "Jimmy demonstrated a very powerful attack that wiped out nearly 20,000 enemy units. Tian Quanbei and I both thought it was simply scientific application, but... I know that if I were to have my troops withdraw now, Jimmy would more than likely die at the hands of the Yolkians, but still, that wouldn't jeapordize the state of the universes. This isn't like any other decision from the Council. Normally, they would have forbade my being here after I escorted Jimmy to diffuse the bomb, and even then, that bomb wouldn't have even nearly come close to destroying Earth."

This time, the silence was caused by the other being, seeming very hesitant in Jimmy's opinion to answer. "The other gods and I, including His Supreme Holyness Jehovah, have all had premonitions of a great disaster that may be the result to the death of all the realms. We do not think that it can simply be killed, but rather it is a matter of pure scientific matters that as Immortal Beings we are not allowed to inform you of. However, I can tell you this much. When I told you at the beginning of your assignment to keep this Neutron character alive at all costs, I meant it. We cannot tell you how to combat that threat or even if that threat is real simply because we don't precisely know. Come, let us take a walk, shall we?"

The sound of rustling fabrics and footsteps made Jimmy scurry behind several barrels of what appeared to be green water. Looking through the gap between 2 barrels, Jimmy continued to spy. Exiting the tavern first was Shaojia who was in his human appearance, his hair black and in a Manchurian braid with his Chinese armor adorned proudly on his person with his helmet tucked neatly under his arm while his cape flowed down his back, flapping with every menacing step he took.

The second figure to exit the buidling sent chills down Jimmy's spine, an awkward sense of fear, apprehension, and reverence taking residence in the depth of his soul. The figure, a hologram of some sort marked clearly as such as the occasional flickering of the figure's image and the slightly blue hue given off by him, was taller than Shaojia, maybe 6 feet tall. He wore a green Chinese robe of a design reserved soley for the highest officials. Jimmy knew this because of his studies in Asian mythology that briefly covered, Buddism, Shintoism, and Daoism. In addition to his green imperial garb, he wore a Ming officials's hat, a simple black hat with 2 wing-like, green-colored flaps that protruded from each side. Like Shaojia, the figure had his hair tied back into a Manchurian braid. As for facial hair, the other figure had a Fu Manchu-style mustache that drooped so low, it was practically a part of his beard which reached as far down as his waist which was almost as big as Buddha's perhaps. From his studies in Chinese culture, Jimmy knew that this being was the Chinese god; Yu Huang, Yu di, Yuhuang Dadi, Tian Gong, whatever you wanted to call him, the Jade Emperor, God of the Celestial Beurocracy of Chinese Heaven, was more or less standing in front of Jimmy's very eyes.

Shaojia then turned around abruptly and said something to the Jade Emperor in Mandarin. The Jade Emperor nodded and looked towards Jimmy's general area. Jimmy looked away quickly, glad that he had gotten rid of his former haircut or else he would have been spotted immediately. A few very tense minutes past before Jimmy heard footsteps walking off. Taking his chances, Jimmy looked back through the gap and saw Shaojia and the Jade Emperor walk towards the gate of the city, talking at a low volume to presumably not disturb anyone who was asleep.

Jimmy sat down on the ground with a heavy sigh as he weighed his options. He could follow them and find out what they meant by the 'great disaster' that was supposed to destroy the universes. Or, he could call it a night and forget all about everything he heard. Shaking his head, he decided instantly. He had to see this to the end. Especially when his life or death could very well decide the very fate of the universes.

Taking a deep breath, Jimmy crept around from his cover and scurried behind a nearby building. Darting from building to building, Jimmy quickly caught up with the 2 he was trailing. As he took cover behind the building they were passing, he could barely hear part of their conversation, with Shaojia talking, "-train him. He's strong in mind but not that much in body. I understand that he is a capable warrior, but he still isn't at the physical level as I am or any other Enforcer for that matter. If he is what we think he is, then he'll need Master Monk Shi Xindao to teach him"

"True, training would be very beneficial for him," the Jade Emperor mused. "However, he is still a scientist, and that is his strength. If you believe it is necessary, Young Emperor, train him, but do not allow him to lose his intellect and cunning."

"As you wish, milord," Shaojia simply replied. Jimmy waited for them to completely pass the building he had taken cover behind before he moved onto the next building. "So, you approve of me retaking the throne after so long?"

"You were a valuable asset to the Enforcers. Your devotion to the gods was instrumental in the safety of the realms," the Jade Emperor stated, "However, now, China needs a ruler. This will be your last military operation for a long time, Young One. You must reassemble China, solidfiy her foundation, and lead your people. You have Heaven's Favor, and that shall be known throughout the Middle Kingdom. Use our favor to your advantage to secure the empire as quickly as possible."

Shaojia made a light scoffing sound before replying. "So this will be my last assignment before my early retirement?"

"No," the Jade Emperor stated firmly. "The universes are still far too unsafe. The Minor Gods have tried as hard as they could to train other Chosen Warriors to not only fight wars but to carry out individual assignments such as you and your assosciate, Tian Quanbei. In short, they have failed, and there are not nearly enough qualified Enforcers that can carry out discreet operations. You will only take a leave of absence from you rmilitary duties to reunite the Middle Kingdom, but when needed, I expect that you accept all individial operations that are assigned to you. However, you have no reason to fret as you will only be given the assignments that must absolutely require your attention."

"Thank you, milord," Shaojia said a tad bit sullenly. "But what about Neutron? Will he be a military tool? Or would you like for me to have him trail along on my other assignments."

"Neither," the Jade Emperor answered. "He will be undisturbed for as much as possible. The High Council has decided to use him only when absolutely necessary. In short, he will be recieving the same treatment as you. He shall be left alone for the most part, and he will only be called upon when needed."

After a short moment of silence, Jimmy took it upon himself to just sit down and retreat to the deepest corners of his mind. His mind was swirling. From what he could tell, the gods did not see their Chosen Warriors as living beings but as tools, as weapons, as expendable devices used to keep the realms intact. And he had to be the biggest tool of all. After all, if it wasn't for his intellect, he and all of his friends would have been nuclear waste along with all of Retroville and possibly part of the outskirts of eastern Dallas.

His ruminations were cut short when Shaojia began to speak again. "But about this war... May I ask what your predictions are?"

Another tense pause made Jimmy realize how far he had actually gone out from cover to try and hear what the Jade Emperor had to say, almost stepping from out of the cover of what was presumably a barrack for the gate operators that used to live there. When Jimmy had reached cover, the Jade Emperor answered, "You must hurry. I sense that something is... Your enemy, this 'Leage of Villians,' they all possess dangerous qualitites. They must be stopped quickly. I sense another reason that I was to personally give you this assignment, but I cannot detect what it is." After another pause, the Jade Emperor started again, "I must leave now. This new matter requires my immediate attention."

Peering from around his cover, Jimmy was just in time to see the Jade Emperor disappear in a flash of white light that shot up into the atmosphere like a bottle rocket on the 4th of July. Shaojia, meanwhile, was just staring at the sky, an almost blank expression on his face. Not wanting to stick around to get caught, Jimmy immediately vacated the area.

In a matter of minutes, he was back in his improvised bed, blankets kicked out of the way, back to the mattress. He simply stared at the ceiling and tried to think. After all, there was no way that he would be able to sleep now. Stupid insomnia...

* * *

**Afterthought:**

(Heavy metal music starts playing as the camera descends on a packed wrestling arena. It zooms in specifically on Author)

Author: Welcome to another edition of Monday Night Afterthought! As always, I'm A.A. and with me is my co-host, Lance "The Impaler" Horton.

(Zooms out to show that they are nowhere close to in a wrestling arena and Author is still sitting in a mountain of steaks. Steak sauce is everywhere on his face)

Shaojia: What the Hell are you talking about?

Jimmy: (Looks at the nutrition facts of the A-1 label) According to this data, that steak sauce was 99.9 percent alcohol and .1 percent unidentified drug paraphenelia.

Author: Here they come! The kick-ass elephants of the universe! Savin' the day with weapons of mass production!

Cindy: He's lost it.

Jimmy: Well, since he's out of it, let's discuss the chapter.

Shaojia: What chapter? There was barely any 'chapter' at all! Look at the last one. About 20,000 words. This one. Less than 4,000 words. How the Hell does that happen?

Cindy: Okay, just calm down and-

Shaojia: You calm down! Ahhhhhh!

(Shaojia jumps into a rather large box with the words 'MAH HAPPY PLACE!' written in broad, capitla letters across the side in a Kindergartener's skilled penmanship. Underneath is a small sign stapled to the box that reads 'NO CATS ALLOWED!')

Jimmy: Okay, now that 2 of our co-hosts are practically indisposed and Emily is out in Canada, uh...

Cindy: Wanna' grab lunch?

Jimmy: Fine, but I better drive.

(A giant baby falls on them)

Disembodied voice from Nowhere: BABYSAT'D!!!


	16. Joining the Fray

**Chapter 16**

**Joining the Fray**

**(Subtitles for Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

_**SOUND EFFECTS**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron. **

* * *

_"What's my job? My job is to make sure those no-good, lazy, pitiful sacks of crap I am ashamed to call soldiers are ready to get their asses handed to them so they can just get back up and do it again__." -- Master Sergeant Mason Helmsfeld, L-41._

* * *

Jimmy was still staring at the ceiling in a contemplative daze when he heard a light tap on the door. Looking at his watch, he realized that it was already 8:30. He tried to stand up, his insomnia-driven state making every task seem even harder. Reluctantly, he answered the door and saw Shaojia standing there in full armor, just as he had been when Jimmy saw him last night. "What is it?" Jimmy mumbled grumpily. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Cindy sleeping soundly, despite the noise. 

Shaojia snorted. "Good morning to you, too. Figured that you weren't a morning person."

Jimmy shook his head. "Sorry, I just didn't get any sleep," he said half-truthfully, the lying part being that he didn't exactly try to sleep after what he heard/saw.

Shaojia nodded. "Just what I wanted to talk about. Follow me." At that, Shaojia left down the hallway, the morning Yolkian sunlight glinting off of his armor.

Jimmy gulped in trepidation as he followed Shaojia. Did he know what he was doing last night? Was he going to arrest him or something? Nonetheless, Jimmy still kept a calm countenance as Jimmy followed Jimmy all the way out of the estate. Unlike earlier, when the streets were empty, the streets were now filled with soldiers doing their morning routines, with many of them practicing marching drills.

"So what did you want to talk about?" Jimmy asked as a platoon of soldiers marched past, saluting as they passed them, the simultaneous crunch of their boots on the Yolkian ground loud and threatening.

After the platoon had passed, Shaojia continued to walk, going all the way to a place where loud noises were coming from, some of which were swearing, glass breaking, and laughter. Shaojia said nothing as he beckoned for Jimmy to follow him to what appeared to have been a post office, now a raging bar.

Shaojia flung open the doors of the bar as he stepped in. Like an old Western, all noises ceased as Shaojia walked up to the bartender, who, like all of the other bar patrons, was obviously a pilot as indicated by his lack of armor and the patch with an insignia of an airplane on the right bicep of his black jumpsuit. "Mornin', sir!" the bartender saluted, nearly dropping the bottle of what appeared to be tequila.

Shaojia nodded his greetings before sitting down at the improvised bar, the post office delivery inspections counter. "Relax, I'm just here for a drink." Instantly, the ruckus started up again, Jimmy having to even duck at one point to avoid being hit by a flying empty bottle of beer.

Sitting next to Shaojia at the bar, Jimmy asked what he had meant to ask several days ago. "Why do you drink? It's not healthy."

Shaojia scowled. "In my line of work, you'll need a secret vice to take your mind off of things. That is, if I could actually get drunk though." At Jimmy's questioning look, Shaojia explained, "In my universe, demons are descendants of a god who had been sent to Earth after he committed a crime in the Celestial Beurocracy, basically the holy version of your US government... kind of. Anyways, since we're descendents, we inherit the fact that gods can't get drunk. We also can't die of disease. The only thing that can really definitely us is a sword to the heart or a bullet to the head." Jimmy nodded, but still not exactly accepting of his companion's vice, his impression of alcohol still very negative due to years of televised prompting to stay away from the stuff. "Hey barkeep, get me a 2 glasses of Fujian Huangjiu."

The bartender nodded and went to work on fixing up the concoction. Jimmy interjected quietly to Shaojia by saying, "Uh, I don't drink."

Shaojia nodded. "I thought as much. Besides," he was interrupted when 2 glasses filled with an orange-red liquid. Picking the glasses up and clinking them together he said, "They're both for me." Taking a swig out of one of his drinks, he said to Jimmy, "Now, time to get back to business." Now, Shaojia just downed the entire glass before downing the second like a professional alcoholic... or that wrestler Stone Cold Steve Austin, butagain, a proffesional alcoholic. Shaojia then stood up and exited the bar with as much finesse as he did entering it. Jimmy followed him out.

"So what did you drag me out here for anyways?" Jimmy asked when he exited the bar, finding Shaojia leaning against the side of the building waiting for him.

"I told you before you went off to bed to think about whether or not you want our force to move out again," Shaojia answered. "I couldn't sleep well either last night so I stayed up checking up on the reports from the other invasion groups. They've pretty muched tried their best to catch up, the closest one being General Tsung's who should probably leaving the 66th Ring right about now and moving in."

Jimmy thought for a moment. "You know, I really just want to stay here and relax, take a break, but I know that every second that we stay here, my parents' lives will continue to be endanger."

Shaojia nodded. "That would be a problem. However, tired troops would be a bigger problem, wouldn't you say?"

Jimmy nodded in agreement. "So, we're taking a day-off today?" Shaojia nodded.

Then, Shaojia remembered something. "Wait, did you get a chance to interrogate our humble host?"

Jimmy nodded. "Yeah, I almost forgot. In exchange for the information, though I had to promise that I would provide them a way off of Yolkus."

Shaojia nodded as he contemplated this. "Well, I hope that what he told us was worth a free plane ticket."

"I think it was," Jimmy replied. "He told me that there's possibly a Yolktar breeding facility in the next Ring over."

At that, Shaojia stood upright and grabbed Jimmy by the soldiers, shaking him vehemently. "You didn't think that that was important enough to tell me until now?"

Jimmy managed to pry Shaojia's strong arms off of him before explaining himself. "He said that it was Rebel propoganda. And even if it was true, it would still be under construction."

Shaojia sighed and accepted this. "Anything else?"

"Yes," Jimmy said. "The Yolkian mayor said that he got an invitation from Goobot to be a general in his army."

"Hring a civillian?" Shaojia murmured. Jimmy heard it nonetheless and nodded. "He must be getting desperate."

"Oh, and I think that we might have the Yolkian mayor's son," Jimmy added as an afterthought while Shaojia continued to think.

"What?" Shaojia answered, caught by surprise at the off-hand statement.

"Cindy, she talked to the mayor's daughter and said that her brother had gone missing while on assignment over a week ago."

Shaojia turned to look at Jimmy. "That's around when the Yolkians attacked and we captured Sgt. Nravalok, wasn't it?"

Jimmy nodded. "What do you think?"

"Sounds like we might have a Yolkian family reunion on our hands," Shaojia mumbled as he rubbed his chin thoughtfully. He watched another platoon march by. "Jimmy, what do you think about turning this place into a military garrison? It's got walls, got shelter for any troops stationed here. It'll be a helluva lot easier than getting supplies all the way from the ships."

Jimmy thought it over. "Seems practical enough. Wait, let me guess, you're planning in making this place a refugee camp too? I promised the mayor transport off of Yolkus, and I don't think he'll be too excited "

Shaojia nodded. "I'll talk to your friend. I'm sure he'll understand. Besides, where else would we put him?"

"Well, I was thinking about Instillation Alpha," Jimmy said as he looked up into the blue Yolkian sky. "It's away from danger, it's off planet, and it should be Enforcer operated so there's no real threat."

Shaojia shook his head. "Instillation Alpha will no longer exist by today. By the end of today, I plan on having Fort Divine Justice up and operational."

"Fort Divine Justice?" Jimmy murmured as the gears began to click. "You're bringing my recruits here." Jimmy realized

Shaojia nodded. "We need people to run the fort while we're away. Besides, I think they might be ready."

"What exactly are you thinking?" Jimmy asked as he turned full body to confront Shaojia.

"A lot of things," Shaojia said as he walked away.

"Wait," Jimmy yelled after him, "what about that possible Breeding Facility? Are we going to send in troops to take care of it? Or is the whole army just going to keep marching and do a clean sweep of it as we pass?"

Shaojia simply yelled back as he disappeared into a sea of soldiers. "You think of something. This is your war after all."

Jimmy shook his head as he walked back to the estate to wait for Cindy to get up if she hadn't already. "Yeah, but this is your army."

* * *

Meiling was awaken from her sleep when she fell off of the bed she was sleeping on and landed hard on the floor. Whilst on said floor, she could feel the rumblings of the engine several decks below. 'Huh?' she thought as she pushed herself up. Brushing herself up, she disappeared into the bathroom to freshen up before she demanded answers from whoever was still running the bridge. 

After freshening up, she took the lift up to the bridge. On the way, she thought of why the engines would even be running. "Are we taking off?" she asked herself aloud as the lift continued to ascend. "Why would we need to do that?" Her questions were answered when she saw that they were indeed taking off, and, if the big, green, objective reticule centered on Instillation Alpha had anything to contribute to it, it meant that they would be landing there soon.

As soon as she stepped onto the bridge, Rear Admiral Huang, whom Meiling had been slightly acquainted with, saw her and kowtowed almost immediately, along with the other Chinese naval men. "Lady Meiling!" they all cried as they bowed.

Meiling smiled awkwardly, now starting to feel Shaojia's slight irritation at the repetitious and sometimes impractical ceremonies. "Uh, you can rise now." At her words, the staffers all rose simultaneously, all at attention as well. "So," she asked Huang, "where are we going?"

The Rear Admiral reported plainly, "I apologize, milady. Grand General Wang has ordered me to not disclose any information to you about my orders."

Meiling simply shook her head as she thought begrudgingly, 'That's Shaojia for you...'

Then, as if to prove that Shaojia couldn't keep her out of the dark even if he tried, the central monitor went blank before Libby's face appeared on it. From the looks of it, it seems as if Libby has slept nor eaten well in days, the pitiful amounts of make-up failing to hide the bags under her eyes and her pale complexion. "Admiral Folfax, here," Libby grumbled tiredly, sounding as half-dead as she appeared. "Shaojia-I mean General Wang just called me. I'll have everyone ready for pick-up. You don't even have to land. He told me to have you use the tractor beam to lift us up from Instillation Alpha. Folfax, out."

After the transmission, Huang apparently turned around to stop Meiling, knowing of her past record of... mischief was a bit of an understatement but was still slightly suitable. Unfortunately for him, the girl was already long gone, on her way down to where the tractor beam always transported people, the Lower Docking Bay, otherwise known as Docking Bay Beta. "Uh-oh..." was all Huang could say before he collapsed into the captain's chair distraught. "Big uh-oh..."

Meanwhile, Meiling was indeed on her way to Docking Bay Beta. Libby's appearance scared her, and she had to help her friend. After all, she always liked to return favors. Then there was her more selfish, alterior motive. She knew that the only way in all of the hells that Shaojia would order for the new recruits to get back on the ship is if either a meteor was going to hit it, at which point it would simply be blown out of space by the training facilitu's many anti-threat weapons, or if he or Jimmy thought that the recruits would be needed down on Yolkus. Knowing it was the second, she would find a way to get back to Shaojia.

Soon, she reached her destination, Docking Bay Beta which wasn't as much as a docking bay as it was an armory or a parking garage for military vehicles, though the only vehicles now were transport trucks. Right away, she could feel the holy energy that operated the ship. From the ceilings, from the walls, and from the floor, white dots materialized and formed together into a larger blob, accumulating until it grew larger and larger. Taking the smart road, Meiling hid herself from view behind a refueling station next to a truck.

The roon was then swallowed by a bright white light. As soon as it dissipated, Meiling poked her head from around her cover to see what had just been transported into the ship. What caught her attention almost at once were the 25 kids, 23 boys and 2 girls, in military uniforms, the main uniform was red while the extra decorations, such as the cuffs and the collar, were yellow. Steel plated chest armor, shoulder armor, and leg armor adorned them as well, making them look slightly like riot police. Shouldered on their right arms were Enforcer-issue M14 rifles. Strapped to their waists were European rapiers while a M9 pistol sat in its holster on the opposite side of their waist. Slung over their backs were the fully-automatic M4 assault rifles. A crimson-colored M1 helmet sat on their heads, a gold insignia of an atom in the middle, the same atom insignia found on Jimmy's T-shirt.

Next, she saw the rest of what was once the N-12 army plus younger kids and relatives. All in all, there were 221 non-combatant personnel, most of which appeared to be more like refugees as some of them smelled and some looked as if they hadn't slept in days, which might have been true actually. Among them, Cindy could see people bearing naval uniforms along with Carl and Ibsol, the 2 communications speacialists.

What caught her attention the most, however, was Libby and her appearance. The once cheerful and radiant girl looked as bad as some of the non-soldier N-12 civillians. Even from her cover which was a good distance away from the N-12 group, Meiling could see the bags under Libby's eyes, her frazzled hair, and over all disshelved appearance. It was disturibing to say the least.

Then, Libby turned to her troop and said to them, "Alright, y'all, I don't know what General Shaojia's got planned, but we're supposed to secure a fort or something down on the surface of Yolkus. I don't got no idea what he had in mind, but now's the time to prove yourself. Just get down there and make our parents proud." This was met with the simple thrusting of fists into the air and celebratory cries.

Libby smiled weakly as the intercom came on. From the PA speakers came Rear Admiral Huang's voice. "Vice Admiral Folfax, we'll be re-entering the Yolkian atmosphere very soon. Grand General Wang orders that you have the N-12 Enforcers each load a supply truck with the portable matter generators, Classification Number: Delta 7MG14A. Assuming that Instillation Alpha had a driving training course, they will then drive the supply trucks into Fort Divine Justice roughly 5 or 6 klicks away from our landing zone. Trust me, you can't possibly miss it. As for the civillians, Grand General Wang is sending a platoon of soldiers to commandeer the troop transport trucks later."

Meiling smiled as a plan formed in her head. She would have to help Libby later. While the N-12 soldiers did as they were ordered and the non-combatant N-12 children simply waited around, some helping the soldiers, Meiling sneaked to the lift and rode it up to the Officer's Quarters floor. There, she changed her outfit using the dragon statue, changing from a simple, green, floral qipao Chinese dress to a green, flowing qipao with a layer of steel armor sitting over her top, the weight barely noticeable to her as it was only 5 pounds. Her hair was tied back, flowing down her back as a Mandarin cap sat on her head. Broad shoulder pads jutted out from her. On he rlower half, she wore a billowing, white pair of pants. The most distinguishing feature of all were the two simple Chinese fans that she held in each hand, a sharp blade fixed to one end on both of them.

As soon as the Magic Wardrobe Changer Thing had finished changing her appearance, she rushed back to the lift where it took her back down to Docking Bay Beta. Just as she had thought, the time it took for her to change her outfit was enough for the soldiers to finish loading the trucks, well mostly. Looking around as she checked her area, she was relieved that, miraculously, no one had heard the lift descend. Creeping behind a couple of fuel stations, Meiling waited until an N-12 soldier had finished loading his truck before climbing into the driver's seat. Checking her area again, Meiling saw nothing that would stop her from climbing onto the back of the truck and hiding behind several portable matter generators and by several, meaning about 4 due to the fact that the portable matter generators contradicted themselves as they were too large to be portable. With all that and done she just hoped that her unknowing chauffer was at least an okay driver.

* * *

Jimmy and Cindy had taken a walk after they had eaten breakfast at a nearby food truck. When Jimmy had reached the estate after his chat with Shaojia, Cindy was already awake, looking around for him. That was nearly half an hour ago. Now, the two were doing something that normal couples did. Argue. 

"They're too inexperienced," Cindy argued in a calm tone of voice. The two tried to act as nonchalant as possible to avoid arousing suspicion amongst Shaojia's men. After all, it didn't look good to be arguing like children in front of an army... of children. When he had reached the estate, Cindy had asked him where he had been, and he told her everything Shaojia and him had discussed. And she wasn't too happy about a particular topic.

Jimmy shook his head as he answered. "They've had at least a week of training from programs developed by the gods. Look how far we've progressed!" He emphasized his point by grabbing his electroaxe with both hands which he had used as a gentlemen's cane during their walk. "We've defeated thousands of Yolkian troops. They'll be fine."

Cindy just sighed as the two rounded a corner and found themselves in front of a large exhibition site where soldiers gathered around what appeared to be something akin to a soccer field. However, the field was not being used as a recreational sport, but rather as a sparring area for the soldiers who would enter the field and wrestle, their comrades shouting out bets as the matches dragged on. Currently, one soldier had another in a headlock from behind. The one in the headlock countered by grabbing his attacker's head and flipping him over his shoulder.

As they walked away from the exhibition, Cindy finally replied, "I know, but I'm just scared that they won't. I know that we cna take care of ourselves. We've gone through worse. But they're still new to this whole fighting scene. I mean, we've fought ninjas and space bandits!"

Jimmy had no choice but to agree with Cindy's undeniable logic. "I know, I know, but we've got to give them a chance. It's not just our parents that are at risk here, but their's too. We can't deny them the right to fight for their parents' lives."

Cindy sighed once more as they continued to explore the walled city. Indeed, it was unlike any of the other towns and villages they had come across. Instead of simple huts with a small garden of Yolkian plants, there were large farms with at least 2 or 3 gardens nearby, the entire property enclosed by a fence. A couple of blocks away from the mayor's house was the city hall. Of course, there was the recreational/exhibition field that they had recently passed as well as the park, which they were in now.

With the green, Yolkian soil covering the whole of the planet, minus the blackened part that had fallen to Shaojia's attack the other day, the park appeared to be surrounded by grass though there seemed to be no such vegetation anywhere in the city. In fact, other than the plants in the gardens of the Yolkian farmers, there were plants at all in the city or any other such place they have come across. The lack of tree-like plants in the park made it quite barren with the exception of the egg-shaped benches that sat at intricate areas around the round park. However, one thing that made up for the lack of trees was the fountain.

Cindy sat down at one of the benches, and Jimmy followed suit. They sat there peacefully looking at the fountain in the middle of the park. It had 5 levels, each level shaped like a cracked half of an egg shell, decreasing in size at it went farther up, no 2 levels the same. Instead of the blue water they were accustomed to, green water flowed freely from the top of the fountain to the bottom, circulating as it seemed. Cindy smiled and laid her head on Jimmy's shoulder as they found peace yet again in the middle of a war.

"I know we can't," Cindy finally said to Jimmy as she took a deep breath. "I just don't want any of our friends to get hurt."

Jimmy nodded as he too became absorbed in the scene. "Me neither, Cindy," he whispered lowly as the couple turned slightly so that their heads faced each other. Their eyes locked. Slowly, they began to close the distance between them. However, frantic yelling that belonged to a particular Latino boy still clad in Ultralord-esque armor broke their moment. "That is, unless it's Sheen."

Cindy nodded with a bemused expression on her face as she muttered incoherently underneath her breath. "General Jimmy! General Jimmy!" Sheen cried as he grew closer. Soon, the two could see him, running for all he was worth, flapping his arms in a deranged manner as he ran, possibly trying to see if he could fly. Well, it wasn't far from something Sheen would do, was it?

Jimmy looked at Sheen as he got up from his seat beside Cindy on the bench, Cindy settling for staying seated. "What is it, Sheen?" he asked his friend.

Once Sheen finally arrived, he collapsed to his knees and began panting like a tired dog. "Eh... hold on for a sec, will ya?" A couple of seconds passed before Sheen finally said, still panting, "Shaojia told me to... eh... come get you. I've been looking everywhere!"

This caught Jimmy's attention as he helped his friend to his feet. "Well, what did he say?"

Sheen merely bent down and placed his hands on his knees, still panting. "He said to go to the gate that we came in through. He wants you to... agh... He wants you to wait for our guys to come with the supplies." Wiping a fine sheet of sweat off of his forehead, he exhaled, "Man, I need to go to the gym..."

Jimmy didn't hear this as he looked over to Cindy. Turning back to Sheen, he said, "Sheen, go to the gate. Me and Cindy will be there soon."

Sheen saluted as he said, "Yes sir, General Jimmy, sir! Ultra-Sheen, away!" Jumping into the air, he began to run in the air. As soon as his feet touched the ground, he shot off like a rocket... A rocket that says, "Meep meep," anyways...

Jimmy sat back down next to Cindy. The girl laid her head on Jimmy's shoulder again. "Well," she said, " looks like they don't have much choice now."

* * *

Elsewhere, in the same tavern Shaojia had spoken with the Jade Emperor, Shaojia was sitting across from General Tian drinking rice wine casually. "So do you think that General Neutron can fully handle the base while you're gone?" General Tian asked. 

Shaojia said nothing for a while before nodding. "I believe so. After all, you'll be here to help him out while I'm gone making sure the attack goes smoothly," he answered, taking a sip of his wine. "Hmm, Guangdong Province?"

General Tian nodded. "Carbon copy of a one found from 1989." A long silence passed between the two as they sat there, sipping wine and enjoying each other's company. Then, General Tian asked, "Hey, what of the men? They have nothing else to do today."

Shaojia thought for a moment. "Let them call their relatives to tell them they're alright. They all must be worried."

General Tian nodded as he smiled inside, glad to be able to have the chance to call his beloved wife. "As soon as we're done, I'll send out the order." Another calm moment passed.

Shaojia relaxed slightly in his chair. "So, have you received any news from those Yolkian Liberators? I know it takes time to destroy however many Yolktar Breeding Chambers the Yolkians may possess, but a progress report would be nice to see."

General Tian rubbed his chin slightly before snapping his fingers. "Ah yes, that's right. We have received word not 30 minutes ago from the Yolkian Liberators. Gods only know how they received our radio transmission, but it's possible they might have just picked up on our transmissions. Better have the boys down in CelestiCorp fix that."

Shaojia nodded. "What did they say?

General Tian set down his wine cup. "Yolkian security in the Inner Rings is very tight. Most of the Breeding Chambers are underground to keep PR positive, but there have been sightings of them in random areas in the Middle Rings, both under and above ground, but most if not all of those are under construction. They said they'll send in another report in a few days."

Shaojia nodded. "Oh, and how is the word on the other fronts?"

General Tian shook his head. "Not as good as we'd like. Casualties are nearing 35,000 in total. Good news is, though, that we've stopped counting how many we've killed. There's no point really. The entire Yolkian army has either been destroyed, is being put in reserve to protect the capitol, or they've deserted because other than a single Yolkian officer in charge of possibly 200,000 Yolktars, there has not been a sighting of a regular Yolkian in the past day and a half."

Shaojia nodded as he digested the information, drinking more wine. "Good... Tell me, old friend, is it possible to get horses from the matter generators?"

"Horses?" General Tian repeated in perplexion

Shaojia merely nodded. "Yes, horses. I want to really put this 'traditional warfare' thing into full swing, and to do that fully, we need a calvalry. Just a few, though, enough for all of the men of the 74th Gansu Calvalry-Infantry Platoon."

General Tian nodded half-mindedly as he thought. "I suppose that we can get horses, I mean I saw a soldier get a plate of pancakes from a matter generator right after an archer got some arrows for his bow. I suppose it's possible. This wouldn't have anything to do with your attack on the Breeding Facility today is it?"

Shaojia nodded. "I don't know what we're facing. Quanbei, you've seen the video logs from the helmet-cams on some of the soldiers, right?" Tian nodded. "So you must have seen those two monsters that tried to make us flatter than that comedian with the red hair's prop humor. Well, how tall do you think they were?"

Tian Quanbei thought for a moment before answering, "Well, pretty tall. They looked just like the Juggernauts, but perhaps a little bigger. Their electroaxes were large too. It required yourself, General Neutron, Colonel Vortex, and a few other people to lift one of them. I would say that they were bigger than the Juggernaut-classified Yolktars."

Shaojia nodded. "And in those European, Greek, Roman, all of those cultures, what is usually greater and more powerful than a Juggernaut?"

Tian thought for a bit. "I don't know. A Giant perhaps?"

Shaojia shrugged. "I don't know either, I was kind of hoping that you knew. But I stray from the point. What me and the raiding party had faced were not Juggernauts, and I'm surprised it had taken me until now to realize that. I'm surprised General Neutron hadn't realized it either, but he had enough on his mind as it is. There could be more dangerous aliens waiting at that possibly unfinished facility, so if there is the slightest chance that anything under the ordinary will cause the demise of my troops, I will fend them off while my men retreat before leaving myself. Horses will make that all the easier."

General Tian nodded at this logic. "You've had another premonition, haven't you?" he stated in a solemn tone. Shaojia nodded. General Tian considerably paled, knowing that, probably due to the fact that Taoist premonitions and mastery over qi were some of the defining parts of demon heritage, Shaojia's premonitions were usual accurate and very forboding. "What do you expect to find?"

Shaojia looked at his cup of rice wine before taking a sip from it. "I don't know what I'll find, but I know what we'll leave. Dead aliens."

* * *

Libby sat in the passenger seat of one of the supply trucks as it drove towards Fort Divine Justice. Their ship had landed somewhere near the wreckage of a city in what was called the '61st Ring.' They had been driving for about 10 minutes. Now, all she could see was a large wall with a gate in the middle of it, the door practically torn to shreds. 'That must be the place,' she thought as she looked over to the driver, her 11-year-old brother Thomas who now knew how to drive, shoot a rifle, and slit someone's throat using piano wire. 

"Hey, Admiral, persmission to speak freely?" Thomas asked as he continued to keep his foot on the pedal, eyes straight ahead.

Libby nodded her consent. "Sure, T. And, call me Libby alright? Just 'cause I'm a higher rank than you doesn't mean that we ain't cool. I mean, we're still brother and sister."

Thomas smiled as Libby said his informal nickname. "So sis, why so jittery?" At Libby's confused look, he added, "Don't try to lie sis, I've noticed, and everyone else had to have noticed it too. You look like a mess! I hadn't seen you in the mess hall with everyone either."

Libby sighed as she slouched in her chair. "Well, you probably won't understand."

Thomas looked at her with a bemused look. "You're kidding, right? I'm driving, and I'm 11. Of course I'll understand!"

Libby smiled sisterly at her little brother. "Alright, here's the deal. You know Sheen, right?"

Thomas thought for a second and then answered, "The crazy, Ultralord-obsessed boyfriend of yours? Yeah I remember him. He always throws his shoe at my window at night when he's trying to talk to you."

Shaking her head while smiling, Libby muttered, "That's Sheen for ya." Looking at her brother, she said, "Well, I'm worried about what's happened to him and the others. I haven't heard from him, or Cindy, or Jimmy in a long time. I'm just... scared I guess. I know that I should be more concerned for my parents, but if God is really helping our side, they should turn out alright, but still... I just can't help worrying about Sheen. He's too crazy for his own good."

Thomas smiled as he and the rest of the convoy began to pull up closer to the city. "Don't worry. I'm sure he's alright."

Sighing as she leaned her head against the window, she nodded. "I hope you're right."

* * *

Jimmy and Cindy had arrived at the gate about 10 minutes ago, and they could already see the dust that was being kicked up by the supply convoy, 25 trucks driven by the 25 soldiers of the N-12 Enforcer Legion. Next to them stood Sheen, Nick, and Butch, all at attention and eagerly anticipating the reunion with their friends and family along with a platoon of soldiers, perhaps to drive back to the ships and transport the civillians over. 

Soon, the first truck came to a stop followed by several others. As the first driver stepped out, Jimmy felt a feeling of exhileration and pride rush through him. There stepped out... Well, fine, Jimmy didn't know the driver's name, but his uniform was what caused the happy feelings. His preferred colors, red and yellow, were displayed proudly on this person's uniform along with the patented Neutron symbol imprinted on his shoulder pads and helmet.

Looking around as more people stepped down from the trucks, Jimmy immediately found Carl while Cindy found Libby. The two quickly split up to go greet their respective friends, Sheen following Jimmy.

"Carl!" Jimmy cried as he hugged his friend. "You're a sight for sore eyes."

Carl laughed in happiness at the reunion.while Sheen joined in on the friendly reunion. "Hey Jimmy, cool uh... glowy axe-y thingy."

Jimmy smiled as he held it up. "Like it huh? I won it off of a Yolkian general I beat in a duel."

Elsewhere, the reunion between Cindy and Libby was a lot less joyful and a little more solemn as Cindy questioned Libby worriedly. "What happened, Libs?"

Libby just leaned onto the side of the truck as her brother took the time to leave the girls to their devices while he unloaded the truck with the help of about 2 other soldiers, both W-12. "I was just worried about Sheen, I guess I forgot to take care of myself." Then she instantly cheered up and looked around. "He's still alive right? He's around here?"

Cindy looked around as well as she looked for Sheen. "Huh, I guess he left with Jimmy to meet Carl. Those guys are the 3 Amigos of Retroville after all and-" By the time she looked back around at Libby, she was gone, no doubt to look for her boyfriend. Looking around, she shrugged as she went to look for Jimmy. She didn't have that much to do.

Meanwhile, a mysterious figure had crept out of the back of a truck before the driver had stepped out to unload the truck. Meiling used the many trucks to her advantage, sliding in and out and under vehicles to avoid being seen. She didn't know what orders Shaojia may have given them, and she must see him again. She moved onwards towards the town, ignoring the voice in the back of her head telling her that she was acting like a desperate, crazy woman.

Back with Jimmy and Company, the reunion between Jimmy, Sheen, and Carl was interrupted when Libby tackled Sheen to the ground, showering him with affectionate kisses, to the mouth no less! "Oh, Thank God you're alright!"

Carl and Jimmy looked at each other before shrugging. Meanwhile, Sheen had managed to push Libby off and laugh as he hugged her, "Libby-cakes!"

Libby pulled away suddenly and looked at Sheen before shaking her head. "I don't even care any more, you can call me whatever you want. Come here." And with that, she tackled him to the ground again.

Deciding to leave before things got... well explicit, Carl and Jimmy went over to where Carl said Ibsol was, helping unload a truck. The Yolkian defector was working alongside the human soldiers, although the W-12 ones sent to help were a little wary of the alien's true intent. "Hey Ibsol!" Carl yelled as he ran, er, waddled over to the alien.

The alien looked away from his work and greeted, "Carl, my fellow llama lover, what is it?"

Jimmy walked up to Ibsol and after the two saluted, Jimmy told Ibsol the news. "Ibsol, do you recognize this city?"

Ibsol then took a minute to look around, analyzing the gate, the houses, everything. "It does look familiar, but Yolkian architecture is so similar to one another its difficult to tell them apart. But still, it looks very familiar."

Jimmy looked around as well, particularly in the direction of the mayor's estate. "Do you have a sister?"

Ibsol nodded as he began to grow more and more confused. "Yes, but what does that have to do with anything?"

Jimmy smiled as the clues started to solidfy in their places. "Alright, I think I know now. Ibsol, tell me if I'm right: Your father is a mayor of a Yolkian city, and you have a brother, a sister named Yool, and another sibling that is a baby."

Ibsol was stunned as he hovered there in shock. "How do you know all of that?"

Jimmy smiled as he turned to Carl who was trying to put all of the pieces together still. Waving his arm over towards the city, he said, "Sergeant Ibsol Nravalok, welcome home."

Ibsol's mouth plate curved into a smile as he began to laugh and hovered as fast he could to his family. Carl turned to Jimmy and put an arm around his friend as the loads began to become less and less. "Hey Jim, how'd you know that?"

Jimmy simply laughed as he saw Cindy coming his way. "Simple reasoning, Carl. Now if you'll excuse me..." Carl nodded and left to help unload the trucks, well as much as he could help anyways.

Cindy smiled as she walked up to Jimmy. Looking over to where Ibsol had left at such a rapid pace, she commented, "I guess you told him huh?"

Jimmy smiled as he looked over towards where the Yolkian capitol building loomed on a steep area. "Let's hope we'll get our own family reunions soon." Smiling as he looked over at her, he grabbed her hand and led her off. "Come on, we should probably go tell Shaojia about the new develpments."

* * *

Shaojia stood in front of a matter generator as he continued to get things from it. Beside him was his horse which he would use to travel to the facility. "Yep, I think that's all of it," he muttered to himself as he strapped a chain whip to his waist. He had already gotten a rather impressive selection of weapons from the matter generator. Of course, there were his two swords, and two M9 pistols at the ready just in case. Along with his usual selection, he had strapped two qiang to his horse. On his person he carried a staff, a chain whip, and over 500 grams worth of gunpowder to level the facility. 

He sighed as he looked up at the Yolkian sun. The time appeared to be around 9:30, perhaps later. The sooner he left, the better perhaps. Besides, the mission probably wouldn't take very long. Just as he was about to turn around and jump on the horse, he turned abruptly and took a wine jug from the matter generator and put it in the satchel behind the saddle. You can never have too much kindling, after all... 'Ah, the Hell with it.' Taking the wine from the satchel, he took a quick swig before putting it back.

Finally, he jumped on his horse, just in time for a very familiar voice to cry out his name. "A-Shaojia-ge!" Shaojia turn just in time to see Meiling running towards him, looking dressed for battle. Dismounting his steed, he was about to demand why she had disobeyed him until she tackled him to the ground, pressing her head against his chest. "A-Shaojia-ge!"

Shaojia was stunned for a moment before scramblig back to his feet, pulling Meiling away from him. "A-Meiling-mei," he said in a very stern tone, "wei shen me ni zai zhe li? Wo gao su ni ting liu zai chuan."

Meiling tried to rush back into Shaojia, trying to turn the event into something more heartwarming but was met with a stern glare. Trying not to break down to tears, she cried, "A-Shaojia-ge! Dang ni shi qu, wo kao lu ni mei miao zhong. Bing qie wo zhu jian ti hui na... wo ren wei... wo ai ni. Wo shi yi ge jian dan de gu er nu hai mei you jia he mei shen me ti gong ni," by now she was in tears and on her knees, tugging at Shaojia's armor. (While you were away, I thought about you every second. And I have come to realize that... I think I love you. I am a simple orphan girl with no home and nothing to offer you,) She continued through her sobs. "Dan wo xi wang zheng ming zi ji dui ni zai zhan zhang! Qing, bu you fou ren wo ji hui zheng ming zi ji dui ni!" (but I hope to prove myself to you in the battlefield. Please, don't deny me the chance to prove myself to you!) By now, the poor girl was in tears, grasping at Shaojia's ankles and sobbing pitifully as the general simply looked down at the girl.

After a few seconds, Shaojia let out a short and berating laugh as he bent down and lifted Meiling's chin. His scowl faded and a small smile came forward. "A-Meiling, wo xin ai," he whispered as he looked into Meiling's eyes. (Meiling, my beloved.) Meanwhile, two American preteens made themselves very comfortable behind some barrels. "Ni cong wei xiang zhi dao wei shen me wo yan mi de xia ling ni chu qu hai shi de fang shi? Ta shi yin wei wo ai ni. Za na yi huo wo yu jian le ni, ni zuo le wo gan jue xi wang. Suo yi wo shan dou. Wo shan dou gei wo men wei lai. Bing qie, zai zhe chang zhan zheng yi huo, wo jiang cai qu ran er ta chang qi jiang xu yao zai na wang wei he jian li wo de di guo, wo men de di guo. Ni bu bi xu zheng ming shen me dui wo." (Have you never wondered why I strictly order you to stay out of harm's way? It is because I love you. Ever since I've met you, you've made me feel hope. That is why I fight. I fight to give us a future. And after this war, I will take however long it will take to retake the throne and establish my empire, our empire. You don't have to prove anything to me.)

The two stared at each other intently, Shaojia's face sincere, Meiling's relieved and happy. Slowly, their faces inched closer to each other.

Meanwhile, with Jimmy and Cindy behind the barrels, they watched the Chinese couple like movie-goers. Turning to Cindy, he half-mindedly muttered, "Did you catch any of that?"

"You're supposed to be the genius of everything here, you translate," Cindy muttered back as they continued to watch. "Oh my God, I think they're Frenching!"

Jimmy scoffed as he took a glance at Cindy. "Now why can't we be more like that?" This was met by a pause before Cindy smacked Jimmy over the head. "Ow!"

Cindy scowled as she crossed her arms, a red streak crossing her cheeks. "Don't push your luck, Neutron." Leaning in seductively, she whispered as he rubbed his head, "You don't know what I can do."

Jimmy looked at Cindy incredulously and was about to comment before he heard a stern clearing of the throat. Looking up the, two found Shaojia staring down at them with a bemused gaze. "Can I help you?"

Jimmy laughed nervously as he and Cindy both jumped in surprise. "Ah, Shaojia, uh, my soldiers are in the fort now."

Shaojia nodded with no interest as he looked over his shoulder, not to Meiling, who was blushing madly, but to the horse that stood in the Yolkian morning sunlight. Then, he looked up at the sun itself before looking back at Jimmy. "Look, eavesdrop if you want. Right now, I've got a job to finish up."

Raising an eyebrow, Jimmy asked, "Job? Wait, you mean that Breeding Facility?"

Shaojia nodded as he walked away from the two and over to Meiling who watched as Shaojia walked towards her. "That facility's going down somehow."

Jimmy immediately jumped over the barrels and ran up to Shaojia. "Wait, wait, you're not doing this alone. I'm coming with you."

Turning to Jimmy, Shaojia said, "No you're not."

Cindy then piped up. "If Jimmy's going, I'm going."

"No you're not," Jimmy aptly stated.

"I'm going too," Meiling said as she stood next to Cindy. The two girls then glared at their respective male companions.

"No you're not!" both of the boys yelled simultaneuously to the girls. Looking at each other, they shook their heads before facing each other head on. A military mind versus a scientific mind, Cindy and Meiling looked at each other before back to the arguing males.

"You said so before, this is my war," Jimmy started as the two generals stared off.

"It may be your war, but this mission has too many unknowns," Shaojia replied plainly.

Now Jimmy was stuck. He could tell Shaojia about the things he had heard during the conversation between him and the Jade Emperor, but that would mean revealing that he had been eavesdropping. He could try some other logic, but he couldn't think of any other way of going along on the mission besides saying the same thing over and over again. Jimmy opted for Plan B, choosing to keep Plan A for a rainy day. "I'm still going."

Shaojia shook his head and did Plan A for Jimmy. "When this mission started about a week ago, I was assigned to make sure you make it out alive. Just because we're both Chosen Warriors of the Gods doesn't mean that we're invincible. I've been shot up pretty good a few times in my life. Once, they had to take about 25 bullet rounds out of me when some cult tried to kill me. But that's beside the point. Your brain is too good to be damaged in any way. I was given an objective by a god Himself, and I intend to complete that objective, to make sure you don't die."

About fed up with it, Jimmy marched up to Shaojia where they were about nose-to-nose. "Now listen, this is still my war. That facility isn't even complete yet. We can just destroy it and get on with the war tomorrow. And as general of this universe, I will be going on this mission."

The two stared down intensely for a couple of minutes. The whole time, Meiling and Cindy were chatting amongst themselves, both wishing they had popcorn. Finally, Shaojia broke. With a rare smile, he said, "Fine, you lead the assault. I hope you know how to ride a horse, though."

The two girls high-fived, thinking they were going too. Jimmy turned to them and then looked back at Shaojia. "Wait, you two still aren't going."

"Oh come on!" Cindy exclaimed as she looked at Jimmy, sending trickles of fear down his spine. "We are going, and that's final." With that she crossed her arms, Meiling following suit.

The two boys looked at each other and shared a similar thought. Nodding to his comrade, Jimmy pointed in an off direction, and he said, "Hey, look a giant... chicken monster!" The unexpected cry caused the two girls to involuntarily look behind them, just in time for Shaojia to pull Jimmy up onto another horse he had taken out from the matter generator. With the second of surprise fading, the two rode away as fast as possible.

As they rode, the two girls yelling at them, Shaojia looked to Jimmy and asked, "Giant chicken monster?"

Jimmy shrugged as he struggled to steer the horse, occasionally running over barrels and crates. "It was all I could think of."

Shaojia nodded as he looked behind them. "The 74th Gansu Calvalry-Infantry Platoon is waiting for us at the gate leading out of the city."

Looking behind him Jimmy commented as the girls grew smaller and smaller, "They're gonna' kill us when we get back, huh?"

Shaojia nodded as they approached the gate. "Probably." Jimmy gulped nervously as they approached all 40 members of the 74th Gansu Calvalry-Infantry Platoon.

* * *

Meiling and Cindy both stood there in disbelief as there respective, ahem, men rode off with their weapons held behind them, about to charge off into battle yet again, this time, to destroy a Yolktar Breding Facility."I can't believe they just left us!" Cindy fumed as her younger companion crossed her arms. 

"I can," Meiling muttered, staring after the retreating Shaojia. "I just can't believe we actually fell for that old trick."

Cindy nodded as well as she turned around to walk off. Looking back over her shoulder, she asked, "Hey, Meiling, wanna' go catch up with Libby and chat?"

Meiling shrugged, not knowing what else she had to do. Looking at the war fans in her hands, she just shrugged and shoved them into her robe sleeves for safe keeping. As they walked, she looked over at Cindy and asked, "So, how much did you hear, anyways?"

Cindy shrugged. "Well, it was all in Chinese, so nothing really. All I could understand was that you two were enjoying yourselves before Shaojia saw us," she added slyly.

Meiling flushed pink for a second, stuttering incoherently before answering, "Well-uh-eh-you see..." Well, not much of an answer, but more typeable than the previous, "Ah-bu-duh-ba-uh..." And so forth.

Cindy simply shook her head as they approached the estate of the Yolkian mayor, now known as Mayor Nravalok, Ibsol's father. Leaning against the porch, she did a bit of a fancy martial arts flip to get to the top of the porch so that she could lean over the railings. Meiling inimitated the movements.

Looking over at the younger Chinese girl and then out towards the direction Jimmy and Shaojia had departed. Cindy said, "You know, when Jimmy and I first met, we absolutely hated each other." Meiling looked over, interested. "And now that we've both told each other that we love each other, I've never felt so happy. But now, I don't know. They're gone now, off on some mission. I know that I must sound selfish since you've had to put up with Shaojia leaving everywhere, but this is my first time."

Meiling simply stared at the ground as the sun shone brightly, the time still being before noon. Just as she was about to try and say something, someone spoke up from behind them. "I know how you feel, girl." Cindy and Meiling both turned around to see Libby standing there, now looking as healthy as she had ever been, her face clear of her wrinkles and bags, her complexion restored. "I know when I came here I was a wreck, but now that I know that Sheen's okay, I've never felt better."

Cindy smiled as did Meiling, the youngest of the bunch by a year. Meiling finally said something. "You know, I've known Shaojia for about 7 years, and just a couple of weeks after we settled in Tiensheng, the Heavenly Messengers came and asked him to be an Enforcer. Of course, he accepted. He would be gone for days, weeks, sometimes months at a time. But he always came back alright."

The three girls sighed as they leaned over the porch railing. "So where is Sheen anyways?" Cindy asked as the seconds turned to minutes. None of them could hear the faint yelling of General Tian in the distance nor could they see him running around, flailing his arms.

Libby smiled as she looked back over into the estate. "Well, we talked, caught up, and then he had to catch up with some of the other soldiers. After all, after you and Jimmy, he is the 3rd highest ranking person in the N-12 Army. Speaking of Big Head, where is he and General Overkill anyways?"

Libby instantly regretted her words the second Cindy and Meiling's faces dropped, and they looked to the ground. Finally, Cindy replied, "They're gone..."

Libby's eyes widened. "No, it can't be. I just saw Jimmy a while ago. And Shaojia..."

Meiling shook her head, laughing a little. "No, they're not dead. They left to destroy an unfinished Yolktar Breeding Facility, whatever that's supposed to mean."

Libby nodded, sighing in relief. Soon they all saw General Tian, the Chinese general running about and yelling frantically. "What's he doing?" Meiling muttered to herself as the trio watched General Tian's antics with mild amusement.

Finally, General Tian spotted them and ran towards them before collapsing to his knees, half the reason being that he had to kowtow to Meiling. The other half was that he was flailing about for a good half an hour. "Lady Meiling! I am afraid I have grave news. Where is General Wang?"

The three looked at each other. Finally, Meiling spoke. "He and General Neutron have already left to destroy the facility. Why, what's wrong?"

Instead of answering, General Tian swore profusely before hailing down a soldier that was hauling a matter generator to some key area in the city just like many other soldiers were doing. "You there, halt!" The soldier obeyed and General Tian took the matter generator off of the soldier's back. Summoning four horses from them, he hopped on one of them and said to the girls, "Get on! I'll explain on the way."

The girls all looked at each other before jumping over the porch railing and climbing on top of their steeds. As soon as the girls had climbed on, General Tian snapped the reins of the horse, causing it to gallop off in a specific direction. The girls did the same and were following the general. Soon they had caught up to him.

"What's this all about?" Cindy demanded as she rode up next to him.

General Tian didn't keep his eyes off of the road as he spoke. "A radio transmission had just come in from General Tsung. He had dispatched several spy probes to check what was up ahead as he had not encountered any enemy resistance for a while. He found several Yolktars just exiting the 58th Ring."

Cindy was a little worried, but was pretty much unconcerned. "How many? And why is this so important? Jimmy just took out over 20,000 last night, I'm sure they won't have any problems."

General Tian shook his head. "There are only 15, but they are the same kind you encountered in the docking bay of that Yolkian cruiser, the two giant Yolktars that were larger than the Juggernauts."

Cindy's heart plummeted as she began to put together the pieces. The facility was probably either on the outskirts of the 60th Ring or in the 59th. These monster Yolktars were just exiting the 58th. That meant... Oh God... "Jimmy! We have to warn him and Shaojia."

General Tian nodded. "I know, I've tried to contact the 74th Gansu C-I Platoon, but all I got was static. Then I tried to contact General Wang himself, but I think the electricity from General Neutron's attack may have short-circuited the throat implant and the radio."

"So what are we going to do?" Meiling asked as they began to approach a building with a large radio transmitter more or less nailed tight to the building's frame.

As soon as they had reached the building, General Tian turned his horse so that he blocked Meiling's path, and only Meiling's path. "With all due respect, milady, _you_ will be doing absolutely nothing. Though we are good friends, I have no doubt in my mind that General Wang would kill me if something were to happen to you."

Meiling simply glared at General Tian. Before things got ugly, Cindy intervened. "Well, what's the plan?"

General Tian shook his head as he dismounted. "There's not much that we can do. We could just start moving out now, but that would leave the Yolkian mayor and his family alone here, and I don't trust them too well. I tried sending out spy probes, but they all malfunctioned, probably due to the electricity attack as well. In any case, maybe we're just worrying over nothing."

Cindy doubted it as the girls dismounted as well. Looking up into the sky, she prayed silently. 'Jimmy please be safe...'

* * *

Several hours had passed and still no word on either Jimmy or Shaojia. Oh, and no one's heard from the 74th Gansu Calvalry-Infantry Division either. That's important too. Kinda... 

Cindy was getting more than a little antsy as the sun began to set. In fact, she had passed antsy by noon. By now she was as anxious as a pregnant woman in the emergancy room because she more than overdid it with the cheesey puffs-full rack of ribs combo. Okay, maybe a bit of an exaggeration, but close enough.

Meanwhile, Meiling was practicing Tai Chi, something Shaojia had taught her to do on her spare time. Still, nothing was able to calm her nerves as the only light that was available became the moon and the torch lamps that now bordered the streets.

At 9 o' clock approximately, all of the high-ranking officers from both armies gathered in the dining hall of Mayor Nravalok's home. Currently there were Cindy, Libby, Colonel Yang, Brigadier General Yao, and Brigadier General Hong. General Tian was up on the patio of the house, trying to coax Meiling to come down. Finally, the two joined the group downstairs. All of the Chinese personnel in the room bowed deeply in respect before taking their seats while the girls just smiled at her.

"So, what're we going to do?" Colonel Yang asked as they all sat. "We have heard from neither Grand General Wang nor Grand General Neutron."

General Tian nodded solemnly. "Grand General Wang told me before he left that I was to assist Grand General Neutron in running the fort. However, since he had left along with Grand General Wang, that has made Colonel Vortext the commanding officer with myself as her advisor." Looking to Cindy, General Tian exhaled, "Ma'am, what are your orders?"

The blonde girl sighed in her chair as she began to think. She gritted her teeth. She knitted her eyebrows. She could think of no clever ploys to contact Jimmy or anything else. All that was on her mind was to go to Jimmy herself. Finally, she decided. "I say we prepare a calvalry unit as reinforcements and help them. It shouldn't take this long to destroy a single facility, especially when it's unfinished."

All in the room agreed. However, there was one thing that everyone had on their minds, a grave yet very possible scenario. Should the two generals have fallen in battle, there brightest mind and their greates warrior would be gone. There depressing ruminations were interrupted when a single W-12 soldier barged into the room, causing many to draw their swords at the sudden intrusion before sheathing them.

"Sirs! Ma'ams!" the soldier cried as he kowtowed instinctively. "Please forgive the intrusion!"

"Depends," General Tian growled out as he stood from his chair roughly, knocking the piece of furninture over.

The soldier gulped and stood up. "Friendly units have been spotted entering the fortress! They are making their way towards the medical camp."

At that, they all looked at each other before running out of the room, Cindy practically shoulder tackling the messenger out of the way as she bolted towards the door, mounted her horse from before, and raced off, hoping to find Jimmy in the tents. Minutes later, she had arrived at the medical camp near the entrance from the outermost Rings. Dismounting, she tried to find Jimmy through her tear filled eyes, using the medics that ran in from out of tents rapidly as a way to tell which tents were occupied and which were not. Wiping her eyes dry, she barged into the first tent she could find.

When she entered the tent, she didn't see Jimmy, but a W-12 soldier with serious burn marks on his chest, face, and arms. The soldier's breathing was irregular, as if he had ingested some poison. Fearing the worst, she rushed out of the tent into another one, only to find another W-12 soldier who was in even worse conditioned. Tent after tent, each having worsening patients, one patient even dying just as she entered the tent. But when she had asked one of the medics, they told her that he had not arrived.

She had begun to fear the worse, that he had not even made it back into the fort until she saw a single horse gallop towards them at amazing speeds. On it was a single body lying horizontally across the saddle, obviously unconscious. Suddenly, the horse tripped, wounds that it had sustained finally overcoming it as the animal tumbled and died a few feet away from where its passenger had conveniently fallen off. She crawled towards the body and relief and worry both spread through her heart.

Jimmy was sleeping soundly on the ground, albeit in an awkward position, a single, narrow burn mark on his face making a bit of a dark scar that bordered the right side of his right eye being the only injury she could see. She collapsed to her knees and crawled towards Jimmy, ignoring the sounds of the others arriving at their position along with a few medics.

Putting her head against his chest as she embraced him, she heard him mutter in his sleep, "We need... reinforcements... Shaojia... ambush... We need... retreat... Don't be... fool... Can't hold them off..."

Cindy pulled away suddenly and met the eyes of the other commanders as the medics hauled Jimmy's body off to the camp for treatment. From what they could all tell from Jimmy's ramblings, they were in need of reinforcents after an enemy ambush, but couldn't contact them. They had needed to retreat, but Shaojia had stayed behind to hold them off. They all looked expectantly towards the direction Jimmy had come, expecting to find Shaojia riding towards either in the same condition Jimmy was in or bloody, battered, but nonetheless alive.

However, as more time passed and the next day came closer, no one had came. Quickly, the group of commanders prepared a rescue part, with General Tian and, through fierce arguement, Meiling leading the assault. Colonel Yang and Brigadier General Hong would accompany them along with over 3,000 troops to fight off any enemies they encountered, seeing as the original 40 had been overwhelmed since only about 20 had come back. Meanwhile, Cindy, Libby, and Brigadier General Yao would stay and help run the fort, though they all knew Cindy just wanted to keep watch over Jimmy.

Overhead, one particular star could be seen from Yolkus that night. It was a star that could also be seen from Earth, especially in China where in ancient times, it had earned the name 'The Sleeping Red Dragon' for its reddish hue and its great size. And today, from Yolkus' persepctive that is, that star seemed to fall from the sky, removing itself from the tapestry of space.

* * *

**The Afterthought:**

(Jimmy, Cindy, and Author are all gathered around a coffin)

Author: And let us say good-bye to our fallen friend.

(Cindy starts crying)

Author: But before we do, let us remember the times we had together. When our days were long and boring, our friend brought us joy. He was always there for us, bailing us out of hard times. He was never greedy or stingy, and if we did things right, he'd give us fabulous prizes.

Jimmy: Well, old friend, we've had some good times, huh?

(We zoom in on the coffin, which is open. Inside was the former host of _The Price is Right_. And he is very much alive)

Bob: (Through duck tape and rope) Let me out! These crazy kids kidnapped me! I don't want to win a new casket! Keep your pets spayed or neutered!

Author: (Takes out a giant sledgehammer and whacks Bob with it) Hush, Silent Bob, the angels have called you. Now, help me bury him 'fore the cops show up.

(Jimmy, Cindy, and Author all begin digging a hole. About halfway through, Cindy interruputs)

Cindy: Wait a second... Where's Shaojia? Or more accurately, the guy who plays Shaojia? And by guy who play Shaojia, I mean-

(Author slams his shovel into the back of Cindy's head, knocking her into the 4 foot hole)

Author: (To Jimmy) That won't be you if can guess the price of this fabulous prize. (Holds up pencil)

Jimmy: Uh, 50 cents?

Author: Wrong! (Throws pencil at Jimmy. Pencil inflates into like a weird, inflatable pencil... thingy. Anyways, Jimmy falls in hole) Muhuhahahaha! Fools, the price is always right if you steal it! It'll be free!

(Zombie Shaojia pops up and chews Author's head off)

Zombie-Shaojia: Brains! Brains! Incredibly stupid closing commentary plot twist which will have no ramifications on the next chapter or the next stupid commentary segment! Me hurt head with own big words!

(The screen fades out before going to a black background. Author, Cindy, Jimmy, and normal Shaojia are all sitting in cast chairs, kind of like that one skit on that show _All That_. You know, "It's All That! Oh-oh-" Agh, forget it, stupid kids and your MTV...)

All: (Cheesey laugh)

Author: Oh, hello there. I didn't see you for a second. And since you're in front of the computer monitor, that makes me pretty damn blind, doesn't it? Now, I know we've all had fun here.

Shaojia: I haven't! Apparently, I'm dead! (Long pause) And somehow, I know bigger words as a zombie...

Author: Shut up. Anyways, we may have had fun here on the set of _Military Science_, which is in the inner workings of your computer monitor and you may want to consider getting that checked, but we fail to hit any down-home, goodness that'll help the community.

Cindy: And seeing as we're not paid to, we probably never will and will continue to rot all of your minds with mind-boggling violence, excessive nodding and shrugging, and well, anything else that stupid Author keeps typing.

Author: Damn right, damn right... Wait a second... Hey!

(A gold star followed by the words, "The More You Know," stretch across the screen before falling and crushing our cast members)


	17. Ambush in the Flames

**Chapter 17**

**Ambush in the Flames**

**(Subtitles for Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

_**SOUND EFFECTS**_

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron. Oh, and as a sidenote so that none of you are lost, this takes place right after Jimmy and Shaojia leave for the facility.**

* * *

_"An ambush is a very useful; swift, unexpected, and with a high chance of defeating the enemy, it is a strategist's greatest tool. But like all things, it can be thwarted." General Sun Minggong, Z-9, during a seminar on military tactics at the Enforcer Military Academy in the Z-9 Enforcer District_

* * *

Jimmy and Shaojia both rode at the front of the formation of 40 mounted units, all from Gansu Province, or as Shaojia had informed Jimmy, Kingdom of Tang territory. When Jimmy expressed his concern about political differences that could cloud their judgement, Shaojia scoffed and told him that the Enforcers pledged allegiance to the gods, not a single mortal entity, especially not the Tang Emperor Guan Loqi, a tyrant of a ruler that ruled with fear. All of them were armed only with their qiang and their dao. 

They had been riding at top speed for roughly an hour before they saw a sign that, if any of the several signs they had seen upon entering a Ring before would cause you to think, said they were entering the 59th Ring, confirmed by Jimmy's watch's text translator function. At around 10:30 in the morning, they reached their objective. Like the captured city that was now Fort Divine Justice back in the 60th Ring, the first city in the 59th Ring was surrounded by an immense wall.

"What is it with these egg-faced freaks and walls?" Jimmy heard a nearby soldier shout out in dismay.

"Shut up, Lo," another soldier rebuked. "Almost every city in our own universe has walls so quit complaining."

Jimmy ignored the two arguing soldiers behind him and leaned in to ask Shaojia. "So, what's the plan?"

Shaojia just smirked as he took out a wine jug from the satchel behind his saddle. After taking a long swig out of it, he answered, "You wanted to come, and I already told you that you'll be the assault commander, so you decide."

Jimmy stared at Shaojia before shaking his head. Snapping the reins of the horse, he urged it forward so that he could inspect the poor frame of the gate. He then looked down at his electroaxe and then back to the gate. He then proceeded to lift up his weapon and swung down at the massive gate a few times, eventually tearing the entire thing down.

Motioning towards the inside of the city, he cried, "Alright, move in cautiously. There might be an ambush. Once we're all inside, split up in pairs and search the city for anything that looks like a Yolktar Breeding Facility. Move out!" With that, he rode off into the city, the others following closely behind. Guarding the formation as it entered the city, Shaojia could only nod his head approvingly as the mounted soldiers galloped into the city.

In the city, Jimmy had dismounted his horse and was making sure the soldiers paired off before going to find Shaojia. After waiting for a few minutes he found Shaojia drinking more wine on his horse. Shaking his head as he still did not approve of his comrade's vice, he said to Shaojia, "Alright, I think that we should start looking around the place for the breeding facility. It's got to be around here somewhere."

Shaojia simply shook his head as he capped his wine jug and attatched to his waist before dismounting. "For a genius, you sure aren't too observant. Take a look around. Doesn't look like any farming community I've ever seen before."

Shaojia was right. Looking around, Jimmy realized that they weren't in a farming community at all. Rows and rows of what appeared to be barracks ran along the length of the city with only an underground bunker here and there seperating the barracks. In front of each barrack entrance was a rack for electrostaffs, now empty along with the base so it seemed. They were in a Yolkian military garrison that once housed some of the hundreds of thousands of Yolkians that they had to destroy to get there.

Looking over to the closest building to them, a guard house, Jimmy looked back over to Shaojia and retorted, "So we're in a military base. That still doesn't tell us where the breeding facility is."

Shaojia agreed to this fact and nodded as he entered the guard house, not bothering to open the door but just kicking it off of its very weak hinges. Seconds later, he exited with a square piece of metal in his hand. "This might."

Jimmy took the objecct from Shaojia, turning it this way and that, analyzing it. "Hmm, seems to be a holographic projector, much like the kind I build. Of course, the data banks seem to be much smaller." Pressing a small button on the side, Jimmy activated the projector and out shot a map of the compound supposedly.

As Jimmy set the projector on the floor to examine it more carefully, Shaojia reentered the guard house. The small shack was unkept at its best, now filled with dust. Looking around, he found what appeared to be a light switch. Flicking it, a dull, green light illuminated the shack. On a desk nearby lay a couple of papers strewn about. Other than that, nothing of much interest. Picking up the papers, he looked at them to find that they were in some odd alien language, of course. With that, he left the guard house, spilling some of his wine purposely on the walls.

Meanwhile, Jimmy was still observing the holo-map. Transmitting his watch's transponder signal to force the assimilation of the Yolkian projector's datacore, he changed the Yolkian characters into English characters. Apparently, the base was just a wall surrounding hundreds of barracks. Nothing indicated the location of the Breeding Facility.

"I don't get it," Jimmy muttered as Shaojia walked up behind him with the papers in hand. "All it says is where bunkers and barracks are, but no sign of a facility."

"Maybe these'll help," Shaojia said as he handed Jimmy the papers. Pointing over his shoulder at the guard house, he added, "While you were yammering to yourself, I checked out that little guard house out there. This is all that I could find that looked remotely useful."

Jimmy nodded as he scanned the papers with his watch. "Hmm, basically, it's a cautionary note to all personnel that were stationed here. It says here that, 'there has been a recent malfunction in the facility. Several samples have been exposed to dangerous chemicals. Advanced aging has accurred. Unstable specimens have been sealed in Quadrant Makto for investigation and extermination. Do not enter without clearance.' What do you think that means?"

"Trouble, most likely," Shaojia muttered as he looked around. "Well, we might as well search the barracks. If we found that in a shacked up guard house, we should hit the jackpot if we find the base commander's quarters."

Nodding, they made there way into one of the barracks. This time, Jimmy opened the door, though more civilly than Shaojia had with the guard house door. After stepping inside and flicking the light switch, they spoke casually to each other as they searched under beds, around nightstands, and other such places that might contain important information.

"So, you and Meiling huh?" Jimmy asked slyly, returning the favor for the times Shaojia had teased him about his relationship with Cindy.

"So, you and Cindy huh?" Shaojia shot back as he picked up a picture that had fallen on the floor. It was of its owner's graduating class from the Yolkian Military Academy, or so it seemed. He turned it ove to check if there was anything written on the back of it before tossing it away casually, continuing his search on the nearby nightstand.

"Original comeback," Jimmy said plainly as he found a small note pad with some writing on it. Scanning it with his watch, he was disappointed to find that it was just a To-Do list for its previous owner. Flipping through the contents only to find nothing else written on the pad, he placed it on the bed along with a few other useless scraps he had searched. "But seriously, what were you guys talking about anyways?"

Shaojia made a scoffing sound as he opened a nightstand drawer. "I don't see why you'd want to know, but if you insist, we were discussing our future."

"Your future?" Jimmy asked a little perplexedly. He may not be proficeint in Mandarin Chinese enough to speak it fluently, but he did know enough to understand that 'Wo ai ni' usually led to some serious discussions. "Go on. I heard an 'I love you' in there somewhere, and if I go back with enough gossip, maybe I can keep Cindy's mind off of our friends' chances of being hurt."

There was a pause as Shaojia examined another photograph, this one of a Yolkian in a military uniform and another in a dress that didn't really fit too well over the mechanical Yolkian body suit. They seemed pretty happy together as they stood in front of a fountain. Still, nothing that would help them too much. "Well, she knows Tai Chi doesn't she? I taught Meiling how to do that to keep her mind off of things and that keeps her from worrying too much."

"Not this time apparently," Jimmy goaded as he looked under a bed. This conversation was starting to get interesting.

Jimmy heard footsteps behind him as Shaojia walked closer to him with a note in hand. Jimmy scanned it with his watch before shaking his head. Nothing useful. As he crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it out into the street, Shaojia said, "Apparently not. She's... had a bit on her mind."

"So I've noticed," Jimmy commented as he went back to examining another note. This time, the note bore some good fruit. "Hey, I think I found something." Shaojia looked over and walked to Jimmy as he read the note translation aloud. "'Corporal Bacots, report to Bunker 11 immediately. We have learned of the 'Breakfast Club' incident from last week, and it shall not go unpunished. Do you know how hard it is to make edible bread sticks nowadays?'" Looking over to Shaojia, he stated, "A disciplinary office, sounds like a good place to visit next."

Shaojia nodded as they headed out the door. "Yep, sounds like this 'Corporal Bacots' had to deal with some higher-ups of his. Let's check it out."

As the duo searched for Bunker 11, the sounds of similar duos scurrying around from barrack to barrack, bunker to bunker, became mainstay and the only background noise for a while. "So," Jimmy started, attempting to make small talk, "you never really answered my question. What were you and Meiling talking about?"

"Like I said," Shaojia replied, "our futures. Why's this so important to you anyways?"

Jimmy shrugged as he motioned with his electroaxe at the Yolkian base, the green soil that would have usually covered the ground now a dirt brown, probably due to so much exposure to hover technology exhaust. "Well, it gets a bit boring when we're not out in the field. And besides, I'd rather be your friend than your enemy, so I want to get to know you."

Shaojia simply scoffed again as he drank from his wine jug. "If you insist, I got nothing better to do either."

A long silence passed as the two mounted their horses and began to search for Bunker 11. With the data projector in his hand, Jimmy had tried pin-pointing it and had tracked it down to a position a few minutes walk from where they were. Another long silence passed while Jimmy looked expectantly at Shaojia. "Well?"

Shaojia looked at Jimmy before scoffing yet again. "Fine, if you gotta' know. Meiling confessed that she had feelings for me, I returned the favor, I said some inspirational stuff, and if things go right, we live happily ever after in our universe with no plumbing, no running water, and no cure for tuberculosis or polio. The End."

"That was a little blunt," Jimmy remarked as they turned a corner, following the holo-map to their destination.

Shaojia simply shrugged. "So what about you and Cindy? I'll be honest with you. The first time I saw you two, I knew you liked each other but you needed an extra push so I became that extra push. There's this god in the higher up Heavenly Courts that's the Love God of everything, and he told a few of us that if we could bring some people together instead of blowing people apart, he'll put in a good bonus at the end of our missions."

"Wait, wait, wait," Jimmy said as he stopped in his tracks. "You're saying that if it weren't for the fact that you wanted some extra cash, me and Cindy wouldn't even be together?"

Shaojia shook his head. "Don't be stupid. I was just the extra push. You would've have gotten together eventually, but seeing as you're young and able, I decided to do everyone a favor. Besides, I wanted to hire more guards to protect Meiling while I'm away, and they aren't cheap."

Soon, they began to gallop again and found themselves in front of Bunker 11 which was basically a modest-sized office in a small trench, a dirt ramp leading down to it. Entering the office, they began to search for a map, official papers, anything that might help them whilst talking with one another to pass the time.

"So what do you plan on doing after the war?" Jimmy asked as he moved an office chair out of the way of one of the three big desks, presumably the desks of the highest ranking officers in the base.

Shaojia shrugged as he leaned on a table whilst examining a Yolkian pen before tossing it out the door. "Take a vacation," Shaojia muttered as he picked up another sheet of paper, this one with a stamp of an egg with a crown on top, making it seem to be a confidential report. He handed the report to Jimmy to examine. "Meiling'll want to spend some more time for me before I get sent off on anything else."

Jimmy scanned his watch over the paper before shaking his head. "Just some troop evalutation document, nothing special." Crumpling up the paper, he shot at a wastebasket and hit the rim, missing.

They went back to searching. "What about you?" Shaojia asked as he took out a pretty large book from a drawer. He turned it this way and that trying to figure out what the Yolkian symbols on the front meant. He walked over to Jimmy and handed him the book.

Jimmy accepted the book and scanned it as he spoke. "I plan on taking Cindy out on a nice dinner to start out my Enforcer career, basically same thing as you." He arched an eyebrow as he read the scan results. "It seems to be a Yolkian version of a Bible. Better hang onto it and save it for Ibsol to analyze."

A few minutes passed and the duo finally made their way out of the office empty handed, if you exclude the Yolkian Bible that is. "I don't get it," Shaojia muttered as he poured some more wine onto the office walls before leaving. "It just can't be invisible. There's nothing mentioning an entrance, a location, nothing. It's underground, I know, but where's the entrance?"

Jimmy sat on the top of the dirt ramp leading to the office and began to think. Then he heard what Shaojia had said. "Wait, did you say underground?"

Shaojia nodded as he began to pace back and forth. Nearby, a pair of soldiers were walking towards a barrack when one of them tripped over something. As the two soldiers tried to find what the other had tripped over, Shaojia answered Jimmy, "Yeah, if it didn't show on the map, it must be underground."

Jimmy nodded, cursing himself for not realizing that before. "So where could it be?" Meanwhile, the two soldiers had discovered a small trap door, cleverly concealed by a few rocks and some dirt. The other soldier had tripped over the handle.

Shaojia shook his head as he went to his horse, which was nearby along with Jimmy's, and got his staff after putting the Yolkian Bible in the satchel behind Jimmy's saddle. "Hey, get that projector out."

Jimmy was confused but complied. "What are you thinking about?" As he spoke, the two soldiers from earlier began calling other soldiers to look at their find. Eventually, they opened the door cautiously and peered inside.

Shaojia didn't answer as he took the time to examine the map. "Hmm, let's see, we are here." He pointed with his staff at a black dot marked 'Bunker 11.' He then began to circle the map with his staff. "We have no idea where that facility is except for the fact that it's underground." Behind them, one of the soldiers from earlier had jumped into the hole. A soft thud was heard shortly afterwards meaning that he hadn't fallen to his doom.

As the two generals pondered about the facility's whereabouts, the soldier that had jumped into the hole climbed back out of it. He spoke with a few of his comrades about his find. One of them nodded and ran off towards the generals. As the soldier ran towards them, Jimmy put his chin over his fist. "Maybe we should start to look for a cellar door or something. A lift leading down, a flight of stairs, something."

"Sirs!" the soldier said as he approached the generals but was ignored as they were too lost in thought.

"Maybe, but this base is pretty big. It'll take hours to find a... a trap door or something," Shaojia said as the soldier began to wave his arms to try and catch either generals' attention. Needless to say, he wasn't very successful.

"Sirs, we have found a trap door!" the soldier tried again, yelling louder. Still no response.

"Should we just send in for a nuclear strike and call it a day?" Jimmy suggested, still oblivious to the now annoyed soldier standing nearby. "I don't want to be out here searching for a tiny little door for hours."

"Hey!" the soldier finally yelled, his patience wore thin.

Surprisingly, the two generals simply turned around in confusion, as if just seeing him. "What is it, soldier?" Shaojia asked as he stood up followed by Jimmy.

Misreading the two generals' standing, the soldier saluted aptly in fear. "Sirs! We have found a trap door! It may lead to a facility."

The two generals glanced at each other before nodding. Shaojia walked up to the soldier and put a hand on his shoulder. "Good work, soldier, round up the troops and have them meet up at the site."

Wanting the day to just get over with, the soldier lied again. "Yes sir." With that, he ran in some random direction so that he could swing back aorund to go back to the site where all of his comrades were already gathered.

Jimmy shook his head as he looked over at Shaojia. "I thought you were benevolent to your troops," he remarked as he walked over to the mass of soldiers surrounding the facility entrance.

Shaojia simply smirked as they both mounted their horses. "Eh, it's always funny to mess with the Tang troops." Snapping back to serious mode, he said, "When we get there, take the lead. Most likely, we'll come across some alien tech. That's your alma mater I believe."

Soon, the pair arrived at the entrance of the facility. Dismounting his horse, Jimmy brought his watch next to his electroaxe "Stand back." With that, he turned on his watch's power amplifier function to intensify the weapon's voltage, sending sparks everywhere. Soon, though, the sparks ceased and the axe was glowing like a lethal lightbulb, sparks occasionally crackling off now and then. "I'll lead with General Wang on point. I want 2 men guarding this entrance in case anything happens out here. Keep your guard up, no telling what we'll find."

Shaojia was impressed as Jimmy led the expedition into the Yolktar Breeding Facility. They came across a door, barricaded with some steel. Jimmy leaned in to inspect it, knocking on it gently. It sounded as if it were pretty solid as in something much stronger than normal Yolkian materials. Possibly imported materials. Next to the door was a keypad. In a situation where Shaojia probably would have just hacked the door down, Jimmy used his brain and hacked into the keypad controls with his watch. The door soon opened and the 40-strong expeditionary unit entered the facility.

* * *

Jimmy could feel his heart rate speeding up as the group ventured deeper into the facility. Since it was unfinished, it was most likely unstable and seeing as they were underground, that fact made it much worse. Also, the Yolkians apparently hadn't finished putting in lighting as when he had tried to flick on the lights, he was met with nothing. So now, the group was venturing in the dark with only his electroaxe to guide them, the only sounds being marching foot steps. 

"So, what are we supposed to find here, sirs?" a soldier asked as the group trudged onwards. "All I see is hallway."

That was true. In the 15 minutes they had been walking, all that could be seen was a long hallway that stretched pretty far. It was pretty wide too, wide enough for 5 soldiers to walk side by side so that the group was formed up 5 men wide and 8 men deep. However, as they were getting closer to the end of the hall, they could see yet another security door. The soldier's question went unanswered as Jimmy approached the second security door.

Turning to Shaojia he asked, "Why would they need so many security doors?"

Shaojia stared at the door for a long time before he ran his fingers along a small plaque that was, of course, in Yolkian. "They're probably hiding something good. Hey, translate this sign."

Jimmy nodded and ran his watch along the sign. "You're right. It says, 'Restricted Area: No Unauthorized Entry Beyond This Point.' They're hiding alright." He looked aroudn the door, searching for another keypad. Instead, he found a keycard slot. Using his watch, he tried to hack it again, but he failed. "They're hiding something real important in there. I can't even hack into their systems. It's locked tighter than a Fort Knox vault."

Shaojia nodded as he looked at the door as well. "We better break it down."

As he began to center all of his qi into his fist, Jimmy grabbed his wrist. "I have a bad feeling about this. Maybe there's noctious gases inside like hydrogen cyanide or cyanogen chloride that the Yolkians want to keep locked up. If so, we can't risk just breaking it down. We may have to seal it up."

"So how are we supposed to get to whatever they're hiding?" Shaojia remarked. "I doubt that the Yolkians need air since they're in those egg suits, so the gases can't affect them. There's got to be something else."

Jimmy thought for a while as he considered this. If there weren't any gases or other nerve agents in there that the Yolkians would want to keep locked up, maybe there was some vital information in there, some new experimental technology, some blueprints, something else... Well, there was only one way to find out. "Alright, let's bring this door down."

Shaojia nodded as he unsheathed his dao and sliced the door in half. It may have been metal, but it was still Yolkian metal and they were obviously not the best architects and engineers. Kicking away both slabs of cheap metal out of the way, he said, "Alright, let's see what the Yolkians are hiding in here."

Slowly, the group made there way into yet another hallway. After a few more minutes of walking, they began to approach what seemed to be an intersection of some sort. Before they even got 20 feet to the intersection, they all heard someone from the intersection yell, "Halt, this is a restricted area!"

They looked around as the sound of hovering became louder as Jimmy tensed himself, ready for battle, as did the rest of the group. Sure enough, 10 Yolkian soldiers rounded the bend. "Humans!" one of them cried as the Yolkians readied their electrostaffs. "Men, charge the Infidels and send them to Poultra's Judgement Shell!"

Jimmy knew what he had to do as the Yolkians charged. Before even Shaojia could do anything, he charged the Yolkians in return, bringing his electrostaff in a wide arc that took out the front 5 Yolkians, bringing the butt of his weapon to take out the remaining 5. Well, he would have taken them all out if one of the Yolkians hadn't bugged out at the last second and retreated.

Adrenaline coursing through him, he chased down the Yolkian with Shaojia and his soldiers in tow, watching in astonishment as the scientist cornered the Yolkian. The alien was pinned up against a wall of what seemed to be a small barrack of some kind, perhaps for the guards. The Yolkian soldier was facing off against Jimmy, both combatants' electro weapons pointed at each other. "Give up," Jimmy tried to coax as the Yolkian's eyes began to search the large intersection/chamber they were in. Although there were 4 halls leading out of the room, one was blocked by Shaojia and his men while the other three's doors were closed, probably locked too. "You don't have anywhere to go."

In retrospect, that might have not been the wisest thing to say as, though the Yolkian could have surrendered and possbily been spared, the alien soldier now had no other choice but to fight, if not to avenge his comrades, then to keep his loyalty to his king. The Yolkian soldier shot off of the wall and swung his electrostaff at Jimmy. Reacting, Jimmy cut off the tip of the weapon, sending the electricly charged tip crashing into a small sign above a door, more or less erasing whatever it said.

With the Yolkian pretty much harmless unless you count its broken electrostaff, now just a plain old staff, Jimmy tried to make the Yolkian surrender again. "We can make this worth your while. Just lay down your weapon and put your hands up." Again, the Yolkian reacted violently. However, instead of attacking Jimmy, like a dishonored samurai, the alien committed a form of alien seppuku where it took its staff and drove directly through its life support systems. The alien suffocated and died on the floor.

Jimmy simply sighed and shook his head as he leaned on his electroaxe, the adrenaline now gone. Shaojia went ahead and had his men search and secure the area before going over to Jimmy. Putting a hand on his shoulder he said, "You know, in all my years as an Enforcer and as a living being, I have never seen anyone progress as quickly as you have. You handle that axe like a pro."

Jimmy smiled weakly as he looked at the three doors that led to different parts of the facility, one with its sign burned off. "Thanks." Standing up, he looked around as a few soldiers came out of the rather large barrack that was at the center of the entire room. Considering that the hall they had just traversed was the entrance, the barrack was most likely a sort of security checkpoint.

His suspicions were confirmed when a soldier up to him and Shaojia and reported, "Sirs, we found some type of weird... power conduit... thing. Anyways, I thought y'all'd like to check it out." The two generals nodded before entering the security checkpoint/barrack.

Once inside, they saw immediately what the soldier was talking about, a large power box to the left of the door. Jimmy inspected the power box. "So that's why the lights wouldn't turn on. They had the main power switch off." Jimmy proceeded to flick the switch on, thus causing the entire chamber, and probably the entire facility as well, to be enfulfed in a bright green light.

Meanwhile, Shaojia had received a small note from another soldier that had been found on a nearby nightstand. "Hey, take a look at this."

Jimmy accepted the note from Shaojia and scanned it. "This is just getting more mysterious by the minute." He showed the translation to Shaojia. "Says here, 'Do not activate power system until further notice.'" Looking up at the flickering lights above, he shrugged, 'Oh well...'

Shaojia rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a second. "Well, we'll get nowhere if we don't search the entire facility. It's obvious the place is unfinished," he said, pointing to a large pile of tools. "Hopefully, there won't be anymore guards, but if there are, I'm sure that we can handle them." Shaojia then pointed to a pair of soldiers that were standing nearby. "You two, search this cabin."

The two proceeded to exit the guardhouse. "So what now?" Jimmy asked as he eyed the three sealed hallways, one of them with an illedgible sign. "There are three halls. I say we split up into three groups with two groups of 13 and one group of 12."

Shaojia nodded before yelling to his men. "Alright, men! Divide yourselves into three groups, two of 13, and one of 12. General Neutron will lead one 13 group, I will lead the other. Luitenant Meng will lead the remaining group. Each of us will lead an expedition down one of these halls to see what the Yolkians are trying to hide with so many security blocks." He then took out only three out of the 12 bags of gunpowder that he had concealed on his person. "Then, plant these explosives anywhere you can find. We'll all meet outside to watch the fireworks."

And that was settled. As Jimmy departed from the main group with the 13 soldiers under his command, he had chosen the hall that had the burned sign. If the sign hadn't burned, Jimmy might have known that he was leading his group into Quadrant Makto.

* * *

After what seemed to be about 30 minutes worth of walking and 3 security doors, Jimmy's group reached what they hoped to be the last security door. Still believing that the Yolkians wanted to seal something, Jimmy used his intellect and his watch to hack into the door's mainframe and deactivate the security measures. 

When it open, they were disappointed to see that they were at a security checkpoint, but nowhere near close to anything that looked like a lab or some sci-fi cloning chamber with creepy green embryos floating about. However, unlike the previous security checkpoint, they were attacked by guards. Rather, the guards appeared as if they had been attacked.

10 Yolkian armor suits lay strewn around the checkpoint building, their owners nowhere to be seen. "Spread out!" Jimmy yelled as he tensed himself. Something was wrong. "Keep alert, this could be an ambush."

"Sir, I found something!" a W-12 soldier shouted as he approached a Yolkian suit. Unlike any others Jimmy had seen, this one was a normal armor suit with a lab coat draped over its shoulders, obviously marking it as a scientist. In the Yolkian suit's hand appendage was a clipboard.

Jimmy crouched down and examined the armor. It seemed as if the dome protecting the Yolkian had been burned through like a hot iron through cheap plastic, melting the glass to the point that is was unfixable. There was no sign of the Yolkian scientist either, not a graying puddle, nothing. He settled for picking up the clipboard.

Scanning the clipboard with his watch, he discovered the following: Apparently, the facility sector they were in was a containment bay for 'malfunctioning' Yolktars. That made Jimmy immediately recall the note, causing his heart rate to skyrocket. They were in Quadrant Makto. Now, he had two choices: Raid the facility and hope to come out alive or leave now with whatever data he could find in the secrity checkpoint building.

Jimmy decided to keep reading. Furthermore, there appeared to have been an odd accident involving an accidental dose of high radiation. The resulting accident mutated the already mutant Yolktars, accelerating the aging process to a humanoid, biological being. Ordinarily, such a state would have been achieved after 6 months, and the Yolktars would still be under Yolkian control. However, since the aging process was altered, it appeared as if the controlling power the Yolkians imposed on the Yolktars became warped as well. The specimens were then marked 'Rogue' and were to have been reduced to atoms in a matter of days. Whats more, the data actually included an entire list of the chemicals that caused it, possibly as a cautionary detail for other scientists. That would come in handy.

After Jimmy finished reading the clipboard, he immediately turned to one of his soldiers and had them run out back to the surface and put this in the satchel on his horse. That data would provide more useful data in the future. Unfortunately, as a result to this, his part was now, including himself, 13-men strong instead of the previous 14.

Jimmy used his electroaxe to help push himself up. No sooner than he did that did another soldier run up to him and report, "Sir, we found a live one! Just barely, though."

"Where?" Jimmy asked before the soldier led him into the security checkpoint building. Once inside, the soldier, obviously a sergeant, ordered two of his men to open the door of what seemed to be a closet. They did as ordered and in a small pantry lay in a sickly green puddle a Yolkian with a pair of glasses hanging off of its eye sockets.

Upon seeing Jimmy, the Yolkian let out what was supposed to be a scream but sounded more like a ghostly wail. "If you have come to kill me, please do so quickly."

"I'm not here to kill you if you tell me what happened here," Jimmy coaxed as he handed his axe to a soldier to prove that he didn't mean any harm.

The Yolkian made a coughing sound. "Poultra has left me. Only damnation awaits... if I betray my crown."

Jimmy took that as a 'No.' Undeterred, he walked a little closer to the Yolkian and tried his best to assess what happened. He soon noticed that the Yolkian seemed to be in a smaller puddle than other Yolkians did if they were knocked out of their shells. Perhaps it was a symptom of Yolkian malnutrition. "There's a refugee camp not too far from here. We can get you food, we can help you. Just give me the information I want."

The scientist looked weakly over at Jimmy, attempting to glare but appearing more like asking for death to put him out of his misery. "I will not... I am dying as it is. That... That thing. It must've sucked the life out of me. If you kill me, you will never get your information. Try to reason with me, and I will just continue to rot away from my injuries. You lose, Human." It then began to laugh, at first low and inaudible before growing loud and sinister until the scientist began to cough out what appeared to be Yolkian blood, a dark green-black fluid that just oozed out of the Yolkian.

Jimmy was at a stand-still now. The scientist obviously wasn't going to tell him anything. He was suffering anyways so there was only one humane thing to do. Jimmy scowled as he reached for the M9 he had snatched on the way from Fort Divine Justice. He gulped and turned his head as he pointed the gun at the virtually dead alien. With one gun report that echoed throughout the chamber like a ghostly screech, the scientist had become a normal dead alien.

Holstering his firearm and retrieving his axe, Jimmy proceeded to order his troops to search the area. He closed the door on the corpse of the alien before exiting the checkpoint building. Again, just as he did so, a soldier ran up to him and saluted. "Sir, we found a door that had been barricaded. There was a hole burnt through the door, sir."

Jimmy was bewildered as he allowed himself to be led to said door. The soldiers had removed the barricade which was basically a compilation of desks, nightstands, and a bed. The barricade had been burned straight through as well as the door itself. Jimmy examined the burned material before examining the door. It looked more like someone had taken a flamethrower or something similar and just burned through it. Through the hole he couldn't see anything past the point where the light from the security checkpoint chamber could shine through the hole. It was just shadows.

This was looking worse each second. They needed to get out of there quickly. "Alright, it's too risky here. We better back out and come back later with a bigger force." Murmurs of agreement met his words, all of the soldiers sensing the same danger he had. However, no sooner did he say that did a black, humanoid goop launch out from the shadows on the other side of the doorways and attatch itself to the nearest soldier to the door.

"Oh gods, get this thing off of me!" the soldier screamed as he fell to his knees. His flesh began to get thinner as the beast, which was all Jimmy could think of to describe it, began to practically cover the soldier. Soon, the soldier's bones became visible through the uniform which was starting to singe. "Gods! Help! Agh-" The soldier's grantic cries became muffled before turning into a simple garbled mess.

Jimmy felt bile build up in his throat as he began to step back. "Run!" he screamed as the beast released its clenches on the unlucky soldier, now just skin and bones, minus the head that is. It was just a skull with bulging and seared eyeballs peering out from the sockets.

Immediately at the sight of the skeleton that had once been their comrade, all of Jimmy's soldiers fled down the halls. The beast, apparently one of the Mutant Yolkians in the report, turned fully to face Jimmy. It was humanoid in shape, but looked more like a demon. Its goo dripped from its body and made its basic shape appear more like that of a ghost's, a basically human shape with wisps curling off of it. It opened its maw to roar a terrifying scream that Jimmy knew would haunt him to his dying day. It sounded like a banshee strangling a cat with an accordion while stomping in a barrel of howler monkeys. Or in other words, Sheen's singing.

It lunged at Jimmy. He brought his electroaxe up to bear and swung at the alien, successfully cleaving it in half. The nightmare hadn't ended, though, as the two pieces of Mutant Yolktar stood back up and reassembled. There went Plan A. Jimmy then bolted down the hall as fast as he could with the mutant in hot pursuit.

Suddenly, he remembered the gunpowder Shaojia had given him. Not daring to stop, though, he simply ripped opened the bag and let it pour out everywhere as he ran. After passing up all but the last security door, he had run out of powder and the mutant was gaining on him. In a final desperation attack, he threw the bag carrying the gunpowder at the alien's face. His idea worked as the mutant stopped, momentarily blinded. However, it wasn't long before the woven bag burst into flames, the remains falling to the ground, onto the gunpowder trail. The resulting explosion blasted Jimmy out of the hallway. Luckily, he was far enough so that the blast wouldn't hurt him, just jetison him like a test crash dummy.

Jimmy landed with a satisfying thud as flames began to engulf the hall. Apparently, all Yolkian materials were flammable. Jimmy felt several hands pull him up to his feet and realized that it was Shaojia's men. With both of his arms slung over two shoulders, he felt himself being dragged all the way back to the safe point. This would be a story to tell Mom and Dad, alright. As he was being dragged to safety by his men, he looked over his shoulder to see a black figure writhing in pain as the flames consumed it. 'Note to self: Aliens hate fire.'

* * *

Shaojia could sense that his group was about to hit something big as they finally breached the last security door. They soon entered another security checkpoint building. As soon as the security door hit the ground after Shaojia kicked it down, 8 Yolkian soldiers rushed towards him while a pair of Yolkian scientist escaped through a small door on the opposite side of the chamber. 

With his simple staff in hand, Shaojia swung his weapon in a wide arc, taking out 4 of the Yolkian soldiers before using the staff to catapault him upwards. As he came dangerously close to hitting his head against the ceiling, he brought his staff down on the remaining 4 soldiers. Two attacks, 8 kills... Shaojia shrugged mentally. 'Need to brush up on the staff, I guess.'

"Secure the area!" He yelled as he stamped his staff into the metal floor and waved his arm to gesture towards the entire checkpoint chamber. "I want 3 men to search that checkpoint building." He then pointed to the door. "Everyone else, breach that door and secure whatever's behind it. Anything that looks like a scientist, I want captured. Open season on everything else."

His soldiers scrambled around the chamber. He watched as 5 soldiers slashed down the door to the security checkpoint building. He then joined the remaining 10 soldiers at the door that the scientists had escaped through. No doubt that any security behind the door would be alerted. Why bother with stealth? With a single, well-placed kick, Shaojia knocked the door clean off of its hinges and backwards into what seemed to have been the ambush party. From the resounding thumps of explosions against the metal door, it seemed that had they just opened it like normal people, they would have had to face at least 5 Yolkian soldiers.

As soon as the door, or what was left of it anyway, plowed through the last Yolkian soldier, all 10 soldiers that were currently with Shaojia stormed into the room, yelling orders to surrender like a well-trained SWAT team. Shaojia felt the slightest urge to wipe an imaginary tear from his eye.

Shaojia himself entered the room seconds later. Looking around, he realized that the Yolkian Liberator's propoganda was inaccurate. They weren't in just a Yolktar Breeding Facility. They were in an immense underground research facility, the branch they were in obviously the weapons research area if the many electro-weapon variants lying against racks would be any indication. That meant that either Jimmy or Luitenant Meng had to have stumbled upon the real breeding facility in one of the other halls. Something else lurked in the recesses of his mind, but he brushed it aside. It couldn't be THAT important if he had forgotten it, after all...

A soldier ran up to him as he picked up what appeared to be an electrospear. This must be the new weapon that was under production, and perhaps it was going on in other facilities across the capitol as well. That didn't bode well with them in the slightest bit. "Sir!" the soldier saluted. "We have captured 10 Yolkian scientists. They refuse to negotiate. Orders?"

Shaojia simply sunk his head with a sigh as he looked at the electric head of one of the new electrospears. Unlike that of the electrostaff, the electricity circling the spearhead seemed... unstable was perhaps the best word. Occasionally and unpredictably, electricity would shoot off of the spear head, ranging from small sparks to large bolts. Yes, the weapon was very unstable. And he intended to keep it that way.

Turning to the soldier, he said, "Kill one of them and try to reason with them again. Make sure that whoever you kill looks like the least senior scientist." The soldier saluted without hesitation despite the fact that he had just been ordered to execute an unarmed civillian. However, what they were producing was a definite threat to him and his comrades, and that was good enough reason for him. Before the soldier could go, however, Shaojia tossed him the electrospear. "Use this. Tell me the results. We might be able to use those to our advantage later."

The soldier saluted again and ran off. No sooner than that soldier leave did another soldier run up to Shaojia carrying what appeared to be a rifle of some kind. "Sir, I found this. It looks like a model to me." He then handed Shaojia a clipboard along with the rifle. "I found this nearby. I'm sorry, sir, a scientist tried to attack me with it and I accidentally killed it on impulse."

Shaojia simply nodded as he examined the rifle-like weapon. Soon, the soldier from before ran up to him, parts of his steel and clay armor appearing to be slightly singed. That soldier saluted as he approached. "Sir, scientist eliminated. The weapon backfired, though. It's too unstable. It nearly killed me and did kill another scientist."

Shaojia nodded again as he proceeded to look at the clipboard, the data written in Yolkian of course. He looked at the soldier who had just executed the scientist and asked, "Did the scientists try to negotiate then?"

The soldier shook his head. "No sir, nothing."

Shaojia nodded, shooing that soldier away before speaking to the one who had given him the rifle and clipboard. Handing the soldier the rifle, he said, "Go to the scientists and test this thing out on one of them. If nothing happens, bash a scientist to death with it and try to make the others talk. If nothing still, bring one of them to me, preferrably the highest ranking-looking one, but leave the rest there."

The soldier nodded and ran off to find the scientists. Meanwhile, Shaojia approached one of the many computer consels that sat on the lab desks. He pressed what seemed to be the ON button. He was dead on as the computer sputtered a little bit and came to life. Several strange Yolkian algorithms streamed across the screen, leaving Shaojia staring at it in a stupidfied state. A voice behind him took him out of it.

"Do whatever you want, but I will never betray my King," said the Yolkian scientist, the soldier apprehending him behind him twisting the alien's mechanical arms slightly, the soldier's armor slightly scorched. The scientist winced in pain slightly.

Shaojia looked expectantly at the soldier behind the Yolkian who then shook his head. "Sorry, sir. I was wrong, it wasn't a model, but some lighting ball-thing shot out of it. It backfired and nearly fried me if it wasn't for my armor."

Shaojia nodded and looked at the scientist with a nonchalant look. With a sudden movement, Shaojia shot his hand through the glass helmet of the alien suit, clamping with a death grip onto the alien's eye stock. "Oh really?"

The scientist buckled. "What do you want?!" he screamed as Shaojia tightened his grip, a dark greenish-black color seeming to rush up to his trapped eye, making the eye appear to inflate with it.

Shaojia dragged the alien by the eye over to the computer console and handed him both the clipboard for the unstable electrospears and the clipboard for the unstable rifle. "I can't read this, but I can match symbols. I want you to send to whatever Head of Tech you eggs have in the capitol building these exact blueprints and data, telling them that they both work just like they wanted. Have them equip all of their soldiers with these new weapons."

The Yolkian scientist gasped. "This will cripple the army! I refuse."

Shaojia lost some patience and crushed the weak eye stock. Dark greenish-black fluid flew everywhere, splattering it against his, the Yolkian's, and the Yolkian's captor's armor. The Yolkian screamed in pain, the repulsorlifts keeping him floating wavering a bit, like how a human's knees would buckle under extreme pain or pressure. "You got one eye left."

The Yolkian scientist had been broken. "I'll do it," the alien muttered. "Poultra forgive me," he prayed as he did the neccessary work. Shaojia analyzed the screen, matching symbol for symbol. It was risky, but if the Yolkian did what he was told, it would be worth it. The message was sent. Suddenly, the Yolkian scientist turned gray, and he and his armor collapsed to the floor. The alien rolled out of his broken shell where he died from 'blood' loss and shock, his remains lying on the cold floor.

Shaojia looked at the soldier that had helped him and put a hand on his shoulder. "You did good. Now, round everybody up and let's get the Hells outta' here." No sooner did he say that did an explosion rip through the silence of the lab, causing everyone to stumble around. Shaojia had to grab onto the desk to keep from falling into the dead scientist's goo. The soldier beside him, however, wasn't so lucky. Shaojia picked the soldier up to his feet and yelled, "Everyone, let's go!"

All of his soldiers scrambled out of the room. Soon, they re-entered the security checkpoint chamber where the 3 stationed there emerged from the building. One of them ran up to Shaojia. "Sir, we found nothing, but what in the Hells is going on?!"

Shaojia calmly replied as the explosions decreased in size. "Looks as if General Neutron finished before us. Well, 2nd Place isn't too bad. Round up everyone and head outside. I'll follow ya out."

The soldier nodded. As Shaojia spread gunpowder and some wine around the weapons facility and the security checkpoint, all of Shaojia's group left the chamber. He soon followed them, leaving a long trail of gunpowder as he followed, occasionally splashing some of his wine on the walls of the hallways he passed. As soon as he reached the second-to-last security door, the bag he was carrying had run out of gunpowder. Taking a match from his pocket, he lit the bag and threw it deep into the hall as soon as he cleared the last security door. Sealing the door shut, he heard another resounding explosion go off, followed by another and another and... Well, you get the point.

As soon as what sounded like the last explosion went off, Shaojia noticed out of the corner of his eye Luitenant Meng's group exiting their hall, firing into the hall as they escaped. Luitenant Meng did the same thing Shaojia did, though with a soldier's borrowed lighter. Before throwing the bag into the hall, he paused to kick a Yolktar, somewhat smaller and premature it seemed, back into the hall. He then lobbed the flaming cloth into the hall and quickly sealed the door. And there went the Yolktar Breeding Facility it seemed.

Then, he finally spotted Jimmy, breathing heavily against the wall, laughing weakly from time to time while those that were under his control sat in what seemed to be shock nearby. Shaojia narrowed his eyes and counted. He had sent him off with 13. He had come back with 11. That didn't look too good. Just as he began to approach Jimmy, a soldier ran down and joined Jimmy's group. The soldier looked bewildered as he joined his sqaud and tried to assess what happened. Shaojia was about to do the same.

Approaching Jimmy, who had now regained his senses and stood up to greet him, Shaojia asked, "What happened?"

Jimmy simply looked over his shoulder at the sealed door. "My group found Quadrant Makto." It took a few seconds for the words to finally find its place in Shaojia's head, who scowled deeply. "A mutant Yolktar leaped from the shadows and dissolved one of your men. I don't know if I destroyed the facility, but we'd be better off destroying it from above with something."

Shaojia nodded as he took out two more bags of gunpowder from his person and gave them to a nearby soldier. "Spread these around the rest of the facility." He then waved everyone toward the door leading out of the facility. "Alright, let's get the Hells out of here before something else tries to kill us."

Just like a cue on a crappy horror flick, the door that led to Quadrant Makto came crashing to the ground. Jimmy jumped as far away from the door as possible as three Mutant Yolktars burst through the doors, all of them on fire and all of them very angry. While Jimmy was lucky enough to be far enough from the door and the mutated Yolktars, one soldier wasn't. A Mutant Yolktar grabbed the soldier's throat with its gooy, acidic hand before surrounding the soldier's entire body like an ameobic cell. The soldier couldn't even scream in pain as the Yolktar devoured him, leaving only a uniformed skeleton in his place.

The soldier that had spreading gunpowder dropped the bags of explosive dust in shock. "Brother!" In a blind rage, he drew his dao and charged the mutated alien. "You bastard!" The soldier proceeded to slice the Yolktar to bits. However, as soon as the soldier dropped to his knees in grief and in exhaustion, the alien reassembled itself and devoured that soldier as well.

"Don't try and fight them!" Jimmy yelled as he picked up the bags of gunpowder and tossed the half-empty bags at the aliens. The resulting explosions knocked everyone down. "Quick, while they're stunned. Retreat!" He didn't have to tell anyone twice as every soldier bolted up to safety.

Jimmy tried to get up, but tripped over the skull of one of the devoured soldiers. Suddenly, he felt himself being tossed over somebody's shoulders. Looking around, he found that Shaojia was running with him over his shoulder like a bag of rice. "You should consider listening to your own advice." He then put Jimmy down and tuned to face the three Mutant Yolktars, all of which were madder than before, flames licking their backs as they howled in anger and pain. Preparing his staff and looking back over to Jimmy, he yelled, "I'll join you, let me just seal this facility once and for all!"

Jimmy barely even heard Shaojia as he lifted his watch to aim at the alien mutants. During the long horse ride over to the facility, he had tinkered with it a little, strengthing its laser's strength ten-fold. "I'll help you."

Shaojia simply shook his head and was about to rebuke, but the mutant aliens charging at them were a bit distracting. He started his attack by throwing his staff like a shuriken at the aliens. Of course, it exploded in flames, but the distraction and hindrance was enough for Phase II. He took out three more bags of gunpowder, all securely tied shut and ready to be thrown like grenades. He unwrapped them one by one and pushed them down the downward sloping hall, creating a sloppy trail of explosive powder. He then took out another bag of gunowder and threw it directly at the Yolktars, creating yet another explosion that rocked the facility.

Meanwhile, the bags of gunpowder that Shaojia had rolled down the halls had caught fire after Jimmy fired at the with his watch's laser. Now, the entire hall was on fire and the flames were causing the entire facility to crumble. "Let's go!" Jimmy yelled as he ran up to safety followed closely by Shaojia. The flames were catching up to them quickly, but at least there was no sight of any of the Mutant Yolktars. The flames continued to grow closer, at one point setting Shaojia's cape on fire, causing him to have to take it off and throw it away.

Jimmy could now see their exit, though the smoke was starting to get in the way a little. After a couple minutes of full-out sprinting, they finally reached the end of the hall. They pulled themselves out of hole with the help of a few soldiers, just in time for the flames to catch up to them and try to burst out of the trap door, ultimately failing in the end.

Jimmy sat on the ground in disbelief that he had managed to get out of that predicament. Looking at his watch, he found that it was only about 1 in the afternoon which was also evident in the bright, Yolkian sun that shown overhead. However, as his senses began to recollect, he picked up a distinctly burning feeling on his foot. Sitting upright, he immediately put out the small fire on his combat boot before standing back up to stare at the raging fire that still tried in vain to climb out of the facility's secret entrance.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Shaojia kick a door down into splinters. Retrieving a long shaft of wood, he lit the tip with the fire. "Alright, let's burn this facility. I'm sure King Whats-his-name can see the fire all the way in his palace."

Jimmy agreed with the psychological elements of this. The destruction of the military facility would be symbolic to the destruction of the Yolkian Army. With that, the empire would surely fall. It was simple Freudian Logic. Or, it could just be Shaojia's tendency to like blowing stuff up and burning things down.

With his plank of burning Yolkian wood, he chucked it at a nearby barrack. The soldiers around him cheered as the barrack's roof caught fire. They rushed around, destroying doors and burning wood so that they could set the entire military base ablaze. Jimmy walked over to Shaojia and found him casually drinking wine as he leaned against his horse. Around them, soldiers set fire to the surrounding buildings in a mad frenzy.

"So, what now?" Jimmy asked as he mounted his horse.

Shaojia shrugged as he put the lid back on his wine jug and did the same. "Might as well just destroy stuff. Nothin' much to do, and we need to supervise the destruction of this base, make sure that if any Yolkian forces try to push back here tonight, they'll get a smoking eyefull."

Jimmy nodded. With that, the two generals grabbed themselves some burning planks and began setting fire to random buildings. Indeed, the plumes of smoke rising frm the facility could be seen from throughout the capitol.

* * *

Several ours had passed since the raiding force had begun to set fire to the military base. Large as it was, at a little past 6 o' clock in the afternoon, they were about 75 percent finished with the base, excluding the walls. Looking up, the smoke that mingled with the dying Yolkian sun seemed almost... calming, in a way. 

Jimmy lifted a hand to wipe the layer of sweat that had gathered on his forehead, now extremely glad that he had decided to rid himself of his old hair-style; the extraneous amount of hair would have made the heat even more unbearable. By now, old fires were dying, but new fires took their place, such as the one that he had recently created. He watched as the fire ate away at the wooden walls of a barrack, the structure becoming a blackened frame as the flames continued to eat at it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw something that would definitely make his day go from good to horrible in less than a nanosecond. The ground shook as the 15 giants stomped closer to them, 15 giant Juggernaut-like beasts, but much, much bigger. Jimmy mentally slapped himself. How could he have not noticed? How could he have actually been so busy not to notice the size difference? He categorized them with the word that best described them: Colossal. The Colossuses... Colossi? Colossusseses? Jimmy shook his head. That would be settled later. Anyways, the Colossi were heading their way at an amazing speed considering their size, though they were perhaps a mile or two away. Nonetheless, he had to tell Shaojia about the colossal enemies heading their way.

He yanked at the reins of his horse and galloped towards where he last saw Shaojia. Some time after the initial burning had started, they had decided to split up to cover more ground. From what he could tell, Jimmy had wandered all the way to the other gate of the base. As he fled, he looked over his shoulder at the Colossi.

Enormous, fearsome, intimidating, the 15 behemoths were an intimidating sight indeed, so much so that Jimmy kept using the same word over and over again. Each of the Colossi wielded a larger version of the electroaxe he wielded, thus further cementing the fact that they were the same species he and several others had faced on the Yolkian ship a few days ago.

Like the two he had faced on the Yolkian battle cruiser, the 15 monsters approaching their position were about 12 feet tall and as wide as the front of a school bus. Their thunderous approach would have probably notified many of the people destroying the base, but their distance from the base compensated for that.

Jimmy shook his head as he began to look around. He was surrounded on all sides by flames, some dying and some just starting up. Out of the fires, he could make out the figure of Shaojia, who was supervising the destruction of the base. "Shaojia! We've got company!"

Jimmy saw Shaojia's figure look directly at him before galloping towards him. A blade sliced away some smoke and some burning wood, making way for Shaojia to enter, without his horse. "What in all the Hells are you talking about?"

Jimmy simply pointed back at the 15 Colossi that stampeded towards them, their closing proximity and immense weight evident in the growing intensity of the small earthquakes that shook the ground. "We've got to stop them."

Shaojia shook his head. "No, we have to retreat. Our artillery can take them out, and we've gathered too much important information as it is. We can't risk it."

This time, Jimmy shook his head. "No, remember on that Yolkian cruiser? Our bullets just went right through them. Even if the explosives do manage to detonate, either the goo will just absorb the explosion or the missiles themselves will just permeate the armor and exit the Yolktar completely."

Before Shaojia could respond, a giant tremor in the ground sent both him and Jimmy off of their horses and onto the ground along with a few nearby soldiers. Looking back to where the Colossi were, they saw that one of them had brought down the gate and parts of the wall with one giant swing of its electroaxe.

Shaojia nodded, "You find the radio guy and call for reinforcements and relief troops. Me and my men'll hold them off as best as we can." Jimmy was about to object, but Shaojia pointed off in a random direction. "No time to argue, just go!" He then proceeded to yell out over the sounds of flames crackling and ground shaking, "Men, gather round! Prepare to hold off these ugly sons-of-bitches!"

Jimmy nodded as he mounted his steed. Jumping over what was left of a barrack, Jimmy skimmed through the lines of W-12 soldiers rushing towards the commander until he finally found the radio officer of the 74th Gansu, indicated as such by the giant radio he carried on his back. Stopping only to grab the satchel, which contained the Yolkian Bible and all of the data they had collected, behind his saddle and strapping it to his waist, he dismounted his horse and grabbed the soldier's shoulder before he got away.

"Hey, contact our fort. We need reinforcements," Jimmy stated as the soldier stopped.

The soldier kneeled down to unhook the radio from his back. "Fort Divine Justice, this is the radio officer of the 74th Gansu Calvalry-Infantry Platoon, Phoenix Company, 8th Batallion, 1st Regiment. Do you read? We are in need of reinforcements, over." There was a long pause and static. More franticlly, the soldeir repeated, "Fort Divine Justice, this is the radio officer of the 74th Gansu Calvalry-Infantry Platoon, Phoenix Company, 8th Batallion, 1st Regiment. Do you read?" The soldier began to hyperventilate. "Fort Divine Justice, this is the 74th Gansu C-I Platoon, Phoenix Company, 8th Batallion, 1st Regiment. Do you read?"

Meanwhile, Jimmy simply stood and examined the radio as the soldier grew closer to hysterics. It was obviously broken; the circuit-board was shot, the transmitter was fried, and there was some dirt and what seemed to be some bacon bits from a baked potato on some of the wiring.

Over his shoulder, he saw Shaojia run up to him. "Alright, my men are hiding in the barracks we haven't burned down yet. I'm having them wait for reinforcements." He then looked from Jimmy to the soldier who was growing closer to insanity now. "What's wrong?"

"Radio's dead," Jimmy stated plainly as he gestured to the malfunctioning device.

Shaojia nodded and pressed his Adam's Apple to activate the radio implant installed in there. "Fort Divine Justice, this is General Wang Shaojia, Designation Number 0001-12. I am requesting reinforcements on the double." However, like the radio, there was static. A second later, Shaojia grasped his throat in pain as the implant began to let out minor electric shocks. He quickly tore out the implant, a small microchip about the size of a grain of salt that had been sewn into the skin of his neck. Pressing a thumb to his throat to stop the bleeding, he muttered, "Dammit, thing's broken too."

Jimmy shook his head. "Let's send somebody to get reinforcements, have them take all of the data with them, too."

Shaojia was about to agree when a giant electroaxe slammed down on the burning barrack beside them, sending all 3 soldiers and flames every which way. Jimmy smashed into the radio while a burning piece of wood smacked him to the right of his right eye, leaving a nasty burn scar.

Jimmy rolled off of the now unrecognizable radio, rubbing his back slightly before clutching the side of his face where the burning wood had hit him. "Agh..." He then yelped in surprise before scrambling to his feet and jumping out of the way of the giant boot that nearly crushed him. Looking up, he saw one of the Colossi, even more menacing and frightening now that he was right where it wanted him.

Without even thinking, Jimmy swung his electroaxe at the Yolktar's leg, tearing it free from its foot. The Yolktar lost balance, but it simply limped as it stabbed its axe downwards at Jimmy. Jimmy felt someone grab his collar and drag him away from where the axe would have crushed him. Looking at his savior, he found the radio officer and Shaojia dragging him to a barrack that hadn't been set on fire yet. "Let's hide first," Shaojia yelled as he and the radio officer dragged him inside of the barrack.

Finally regaining his senses, he looked out of the window. The Colossus he had injured was now, pardon the pun, hopping mad as he attempted to search for Jimmy. Meanwhile, the 14 other Colossi were destroying random barracks in an attempt to find the 36 other soldiers.

"So, what do we do now, sirs?" the radio officer asked as he drew his M9 from his holster. He crawled over to Jimmy's window and took aim at the Yolktar. "Permission to fire?"

Shaojia took the initiative and relinquished the pistol from the soldier's grasp. "Permission denied, soldier. Do you want to give out our position?" Looking over to Jimmy, he said, "Right now, we can do one of two things. 1) We could stay here until reinforcements arrive, if they ever do send reinforcements that is, or 2) We launch guerilla attacks at their legs. That's where they look weakest to me."

Jimmy mulled this over in his head. "Where are our horses?"

Shaojia shrugged. "For all we know, all of them could have turned-tail and galloped back home. I had most of them hauled up at the front of the base so they don't die in this smoke or something, mine included. I have no idea where yours went, but at least you saved the data." He pointed at the satchel wrapped aorund Jimmy's waist. "Either way, we can't get to them without get smash to bits by those axes." To emphasize his point, the Colossus Jimmy had injured swung its axe down at a nearby barrack, splintering it and sending flames everywhere. "You know, this might be a good time to have one of those... 'Brain Booms' or whatever you call 'em."

Jimmy nodded. 'Come on, think, think, think...'

_-Think Cycle-_

_...Retrieving a long shaft of wood, he lit the tip with the fire..._

_...'Note to self: Aliens hate fire'..._

_...he found Shaojia drinking more wine on his horse..._

_-End Think Cycle-_

"Brian Blast!" Jimmy exclaimed as he snatched away Shaojia's wine jug. "Alcohol is a highly flammable material, and since you've drunk almost the entire jug, your breath should contain enough alcholic fumes to light up an entire forest." He broke off a leg from a nearby chair and lit it using his watch's laser. Holding the flaming stick to Shaojia's mouth, when Shaojia exhaled, a plume of fire shot away from the stick, almost scorching the wooden walls of the barrack.

Shaojia grinned as he took the burning stick from Jimmy. "Now that's what I'm talking about!" Jimmy and the radio officer followed Shaojia out of the door, who was holding his firestick away from his mouth.

"Alright," Jimmy instructed as they crept towards the Yolktar, "Just keep a steady stream of fire bearing down on that Yolktar. Apparently, allYolkian materials seem to be pretty flammable."

Shaojia nodded as he took a deep breath before putting the flaming plank of wood in front of his mouth. He then exhaled sharply. Just as Jimmy had predicted, the resulting fumes of alcohol in Shaojia's breath created a homemade flamethrower. An arc of fire flew towards the injured Yolktar. Instantly, the flames caught, and the Yolktar fell onto a barrack whilst bellowing in pain. The flames grew higher as seconds passed. Then, the Yolktar exploded like a full tank of gasoline if someone were to have thrown a match into the tank.

The explosion knocked Jimmy, Shaojia, and the radio officer to the ground again. "What happened?" Shaojia muttered as he hopped back up to his feet, the burning plank still in hand.

Jimmy moaned as he stood back up. "I don't know. Either the fire mixed with whatever Yolktar goo is made of, possibly something akin to an acidic form of gasoline,or it caused a reaction with the electric circuitry of the suit." Looking up into the sky which was almost completely covered by smoke, he yelled, "Come on, we have to either find our horses, or regroup with all of your soldiers."

Shaojia nodded as he took the lead again. As soon as they passed up the exploded remains of the Yolktar Shaojia had killed, another Yolktar jumped in their path. The radio officer, in fright, fell backwards slightly before he pulled out his M9. He fired franticlly at the Yolktar as he scooted backwards while Jimmy and Shaojia simply moved to the side. The Yolktar ignored the two generals before he lifted his boot to crush the soldier that had now just tossed his empty pistol at it.

Shaojia attempted to intervene. Lifting the flame near his mouth, he exhaled on it like a dragon, and like a dragon, a fiery whip shot out towards the Yolktar. He was too late, though, as the single-minded Colossus stamped his heavy boot onto the soldier, indefinitely ending his short life. Retribution was met when the flames finally overwhelmed the Yolktar. The flames worked their way around the armor, setting it ablaze. It finally permeated the glass dome shielding the alien's most vital organ, its brain. As the glass melted away, it howled in pain when the fire finally dropped onto its eyes, slowly eating away at its head. A giant torch erupted from the alien's head as it crumpled to the ground with a thud that shook the ground. Jimmy and Shaojia had enough sense of mind to take cover in a nearby barrack before the alien exploded.

After the shrapnel had fallen, Jimmy and Shaojia scrambled out of the barrack which was now on fire. "There are only 13 Colossi left," Jimmy yelled as he ran after Shaojia who was running towards the barrack he had his remaining 36 soldiers hide. He then looked over the flames at the heads of the 12 feet tall monsters that ravaged the base. "Those things are huge!"

They sooned passed by another one, but they didn't even bother stopping to take it down. Shaojia simply exhaled fire onto the Colossus' feet while running, a fiery, on-foot version of a drive-by if you will. They could only run about 20 more feet before the fire caused the alien to explode, sending both of them forward.

Jimmy clutched his chest after he made hard contact with the ground. He looked over to Shaojia to find that he had landed in a similar position. Unfortuantely, the explosion was so powerful that it had knocked the plank out of his hand and put out the fire on impact with the only non-flammable substance in the entire base, dirt.

"Shit," Shaojia spat as he picked up the plank, now splintered to a mere stump, though still lightable, probably. As he reached into his armor for the lighter he always kept with him for such an occasion, he cursed once more upon finding that it had shattered. He tossed the plank aside."Let's go, at least half the base is on fire now, I'm sure we'll find another burning stick." Jimmy nodded and followed Shaojia to where he had his soldiers hide. "The barrack they're in is somewhere around here."

Immediately, they saw a soldier leaning out of a doorway discreetly, beckoning them to come over. The two looked around. Satisfied that the Colossi wouldn't see them, they bolted for the barrack. However, they failed to look behind them as the shockwave created by an electroaxe slamming into the ground sent both of them flying forward.

Shaojia rolled back up to his feet with the momentum of the attack while Jimmy did the same, although, less gracefully. After rolling to his feet, Jimmy brought both his electroaxe and his watch to bear. "I hope this works, " he muttered as he brought his electroaxe close to his watch. He then activated his watch's laser gun function. The added ions of the electroaxe strengthened his laser enough to the point that the laser burned a hole through the torso armor of the Colossus. Without even catching on fire, the Colossus erupted into a ball of fire, sending Jimmy flying even further.

Jimmy got up and went into the barrack the rest of the group was hiding in. He immediately assessed the room. Instead of 36 soldiers, minus Shaojia, in the room, he counted roughly 30 soldiers. He asked Shaojia, who was leaning against a wall nearby looking out of a window, "What happened, there are only 30 soldiers?"

A soldier lying down on a barrack bunk answered him. "We lost 6 guys on the way here, sir. Damn Breakfast Items crushed 'em all. They got Luitenant Meng, too."

Jimmy sighed regretfully as he sat on a desk. "So what do we do now?" a soldier sitting in the corner asked.

"Not much we can do now, Private," Shaojia muttered as he looked out the window. "We'll just have to whole up here until reinforcements arrive." The remaining 11 Colossi were still destroying the base in search of them, though their search was getting farther and farther away from their objective with each destroyed barrack. He then sensed something wasn't right. He counted each of the Yolktars he could see. '10... Wait, there were 11 so...'

An electroaxe sliced completely through a barrack across from theirs, setting the building ablaze. Jimmy gulped as he watched the spectacle as well. "On second thought, let's find a better place to hide." This was met with murmurs of agreement.

Now that Shaojia no longer had a burning plank of which to use for his fire attack, Jimmy brought his watch back to bear. Leaning out of the doorway, he shot a steady stream of lethal energy at the Yolktar's back. Like the last one, the Colossus didn't even catch fire before it exploded. Shrapnel rained down on the barrack they were in. As soon as the rain of shrapnel had ceased, all of the barrack's occupants rushed out of the barrack before the fire set by the shrapnel consumed them.

However, the last soldier to get out of the barrack never made it out as, just when he crossed the door way, part of the overhang from the roof collapsed. His comrades looked in shock as he writhed in pain, completely consumed by pain as the fire ate away at him, the burning but heavy wood pinning him down. Suddenly, a bullet flew in and put the soldier out of his misery.

Jimmy looked to his side to see Shaojia with an M9 gripped loosely in his hand, his jaws clenched tightly, his eyes closed shut as he holstered his pistol before it fell to the floor. A loud roar a distance away from them interrupted the scene, snapping everyone's attentions back to the situation at hand. An explosion was heard, something akin to a dead bomb hitting the ground, and the ground shook. Everyone was sent to the ground.

As he laid prone on the ground, he spotted at the edge of his peripheral vision a Colossus that had spotted them and was bearing toward them like a sedated rhinosceros, destroying anything in its path to get to them. Fiery shrapnel rained down on them as the Colossus grew closer. "We gotta' go now!" he yelled as he jumped to his feet, immediately followed by Shaojia and his men.

"Any idea where to go?" Shaojia asked as he ran up beside him. Another shockwave behind them sent the two onto the floor. One soldier that was running almost alongside them was thrown into a few barrels. The two shoved themselves back up and continued running.

Soon, Jimmy turned around and shot at the Colossus with his watch's laser. Unfortunately, the power needed to generate such a powerful laser had drained the battery. As soon as the giant Yolktar caught fire, his laser died. It was enough, though, as the fire grew larger and larger, finally reacting with the highly flammable Yolktar goo. Once again, shrapnel rained down upon them. A soldier was lucky to come out of it alive as a giant hand about his height from finger to wrist nearly crushed, opting instead to crush a remarkably undamaged barrack. Well, so much for undamaged...

With the immediate threat now gone, Jimmy took the time to respond to Shaojia after he led what was left of the group, now about 35 soldiers strong plus him and Shaojia, into another untouched barrack. Leaning onto a wall he replied, "We should try to make it back to our horses. It could take hours before our forces realize that we've been gone too long, and then another hour travel time to get here by horse. We need to retreat and warn them ourselves." Looking out of a window, he saw the Colossi's search grow closer to their postion. "We have to hurry, though. Since we started burning the base near that end, that area should be void of any fire or anything else for that matter, so we'll have no cover." Another shockwave required that all of the barrack's occupants hold onto something to avoid falling to the floor. "Or, we could just wait it out and see what happens."

Shaojia moved alongside Jimmy to look out the window. Already, 4 of the remaining 9 Colossi were heading in their general direction, meticulously stamping on anything they saw while the other 5 did the same in other directions. "Either way, we better got the Hell away from here. Those damn things are heading our way. I don't know about the rest of you, but I like living."

"Agreed," Jimmy nodded as he moved towards the door. He then pulled the holomap from his satchel. Setting it on the ground, he activated it. "Alright, we are here." He pointed at a black dot in a small barrack. He then traced a path to the gate they came in through. "We need to get over here. Now, it seems as if this map was pre-installed meaning it is out-of-date with the base's, ahem, recent redecorations. We don't know if there is any danger or any cover that we can expect."

"Well, I do know that if we don't get the Hells out of here," Shaojia started as he looked out the window, "we won't have to worry about running into anything else."

Jimmy nodded his agreement as he studied the map again. "Alright, I memorized it. Let's get going." He then pulled the M9 from his holster, holding his electroaxe with the other hand. "Don't shoot at those Colossi unless you're sure they see you."

Like a Navy SEAL, he slid towards the door. He spun around to exit the barrack and walked towards where the entrance was, the others following closely behind him. 5 minutes into their run, they were confronted by the foot of a Colossus. Jimmy held his arm up, hoping that they would remember not to fire. It appeared as if the alien hadn't seen them. Looking up at the alien's eyes, he found them slowly tracing over to where they stood. Well, so much for that.

Jimmy was the first to open fire. Immediately, he shot at its eyes, the most obvious place to shoot. As he had planned, the alien howled in pain as its only way of seeing became null and void. Immediately, the 36 others, Shaojia included with his dual pistols, began to pepper the alien with bullets.

"Come on!" Jimmy yelled as he cut off the Yolktar's foot from the rest of its body. "Its blind now, let's go!" The remainder of the raiding party pushed onwards again. As soon as the last soldier passed the wounded Yolktar, the alien lost its balance and toppled onto a flaming barrack. Upon contact with the flames, it exploded, sending fire and metal shrapnel everywhere.

The last soldier to pass up the Yolktar didn't survive the blast. A 3-foot long flaming plank of wood that appeared to have once been part of a table pierced his chest, sending the soldier crumping forward into a little ball. No one looked back as they continued their retreat to what they hoped to be safety.

* * *

After 15 minutes of running, the raiding party found themselves holed up in another barrack, this one pretty close to the entrance. The only reason that they weren't on their horses and on their way back to the fort is because of the Colossus that seemed to be the least bright, ignoring the neighing horses and just swinging its axe wildly onto barracks away from their position. 

Nevertheless, the ominous presence of the Colossus alone was able to keep them pinned down in that barrack. In fact, they were there for about an hour and a half maybe. At 7:30 in the evening, the remaining 25 soldiers of the 74th Gansu, 3 more soldiers having lost their lives in the flight of desperation over, along with Jimmy and Shaojia were passing the time until reinforcements came with idle, quiet conversation, and useless games.

Jimmy looked over Shaojia's shoulder at a nearby window as the aforementioned general continued his story. "The guy didn't want to cooperate, so I slit his throat and shoved him off the balcony. I still got the standard pay, though."

That last statement caught Jimmy's attention. "A little harsh, don't you think? He only threatened the Earth with nuclear war." Shaojia gave him an odd look. "Alright fine, but you could have knocked him out so that he could rot in jail before rotting in the lowest layers of the Underworld."

Shaojia shrugged. "I could have, but considering I was only 10, and I had to use a nearby crate to grab the guy's neck, I was definitely not going to carry him all the way back to my extraction point. So, if he didn't want to come peacefully..." He made a throat slitting motion with his finger across his neck.

Jimmy simply shook his head as he looked back over Shaojia's shoulder at the window. He then suddenly stood up. "Hey, wait a second-where'd that Colossus go?" He was immediately answered when a giant electroaxe split their barrack in half, setting parts of it ablaze and sending everyone to the floor.

"Move!" Shaojia yelled as he shoved a few soldiers out of the barrack. "Get out of here if you wanna' see tomorrow!"

Jimmy looked around as the soldiers ran out of the room, some kicking down parts of the walls to make room for them to go out, some jumping commando-style out windows. He saw that there were two soldiers trapped on the other side of the barrack, the fire created by the electroaxe keeping them away from the rest of the group. A bed that had been tossed aside by the shockwave of the electroaxe's impact was pinning them down, the bed itself turned over on its side. With the bed crushing the two and the fire keeping anyone from helping them, there was absolutely no way to rescue them as a giant boot crash through what was left of the ceiling on that side and crushed the two soldiers like ants.

Jimmy rushed outside to join the other survivors. He turned to Shaojia who was standing nearby, aiming an M9 at the Yolktar that had killed more of his men. "Die, you son-of-a-bitch." With that, he fired three shots; two hit the alien's eyes while the other went for what appeared to be the brain, lighter, gray mass of goo. The alien howled in pain as both of its eyes were blown out before it fell backwards, the bullet in its brain putting an end to its artificial life as it fell onto the ruins of a burned down barrack.

"There's only 7 Colossi left," Jimmy stated to Shaojia who grunted in acknowledgement.

"Man," a soldier nearby whined, "times like this I wished I had my RPG."

Jimmy then had an idea. "That's it!"

"What's 'it'?" Shaojia asked, wondering along with the rest of his men if the scientist had now fried his brain.

Jimmy ignored Shaojia's question. "Do you still have some gunpowder?"

Shaojia nodded and took them out. "Only three bags, why?"

Jimmy sighed as he looked at the three bags. "These'll have to do." He proceeded to look around for a case of some sort and found a small safety deposit box, no doubt blown to the streets by some of the shockwaves and explosions. He knocked on the metal and was glad to find that its characteristics were more akin to a cheap plastic. Such was determined as well by the hole blown into the box's side.

"What are you doing?" Shaojia asked as Jimmy took the bags of highly explosive material from him.

"I'm making a grenade," was Jimmy's simple reply. "Or in actuallity, more like a Molitov Cocktail." He poured each bag of gunpowder into the box through the hole. Thankfully, all of the gunpowder managed to fit in the box. He then took a nearby table leg, broken so taht it was only 6 inches long that was already lit on fire, and shoved the non-burning end into the box. It was the perfect fit, sealing the gunpowder away until the flame hit the base. "Viola! One homemade explosive, ready to burn 7 Yolktars to a crisp. Now we just have to lure them all to one place." All of Shaojia's glanced at each other, speaking of the genius of the plan.

The celebration was cut short, though, when distant fissures grew stronger and stronger. "Incoming!" someone yelled as two Colossi stampeded towards them, their electroaxe's held over their heads ready to crush them.

Jimmy looked around as another way to ward off the closest threats. He then found another burning plank and remembered his plan with Shaojia's alcoholic breath fumes. He yelled at Shaojia and tossed him the plank. "Shaojia, just like the other time."

Shaojia nodded as he caught the plank, spun it a little, turned to face the Yolktars and exhaled fire onto them, setting them ablaze along with every barrack in the flame's path. Dual explosions resounded throughout the night. Immediately, everyone took cover as shrapnel poured down on them.

While lookind for cover, one soldier fell into a small trap entrance. Jimmy saw this and realized that it was the entrance to the research and breeding facility. He then realized that the Mutant Yolktars may still be alive, but it was quickly disspelled when the soldier crawled out of the hole unharmed except for a few bruises from the fall.

Meanwhile, it seemed as if the explosions had caught the attention of the 5 remaining Colossi which were now stampeding towards their position. Shaojia yelled over to Jimmy, "Now's the time to use that bomb of yours!"

Jimmy nodded as he prepared himself to throw the explosive. '100 meters,' he counted down to himself, '50 meters... Now!' Jimmy spun in a circle to generate enough momentum and sent the explosive flying at middle Colossi. The improvised explosive flew true and struck the Colossu square in the dome, shattering the weak glass. As soon as the box made contact with the Yolktar's highly volatile and flammable goo, an early 4th of July fireworks display broke loose.

The middle Colossus exploded into a giant fireball, effectively wiping out everything nearby, including barracks and the two Colossi on either side of it. Those unfortunate two were sliced completely in half as the middle Colossus exploded, the explosion being somewhat horizontal so it cut them like a chainsaw through a zombie. With three Colossi definitely out of the picture, only two Colossi were left to confront them.

As Jimmy and Shaojia shared glances of triumph as the fires created by the dead Colossi spiraled upwards, their celebration was cut short as a soldier behind them screamed. Looking behind them, they saw that a black, ghastly figure had leaped up from the trap door leading to the destroyed underground facility and was now 'feeding' on the flesh of the unlucky soldier. It was a Mutant Yolktar.

"It's an ambush!" Jimmy yelled without realizing it. "Alright, enough fooling around, we have to get to our horses now!" he yelled as more Mutants crawled out of the facility's entrance. Meanwhile, the two surviving Colossi, enraged at the loss of their comrades, stampeded towards them at an amazing speed despite their size.

Shaojia's men, though brave during a normal battle, turned tail immediately and left their commanders in their dust. However, an unlucky trio were devoured before their boots could even hit the ground. "Go!" Shaojia yelled at Jimmy as he brought the burning plank in his hand up to bear. He breathed fire onto the Mutant Yolktars that had just desolved his men as more climbed out of the hole in the ground. "I'll cover you."

Jimmy nodded as he pulled his M9 and fired uselessly at the Mutant Yolktars and the stampeding Colossi. He turned his head to look where they were going for a split-second before returning his attention back to the pursuing enemies. They were closer to the exit than they thought. He saw several of the W-12 troops already mounting their horses. Unfortunately, some of them had died of smoke inhalation, and if they didn't get out of there soon, they'd meet a much more worse death.

Jimmy stopped when Shaojia stopped suddenly to breathe fire onto the mob of bizarre artificial aliens chasing them. Like a cardboard box full of paper, all in the flame's arc of destruction were set ablaze. Meanwhile, the two Colossi drew closer. "Go, I've got your back!" Shaojia yelled at him as he proceeded to step backwards slowly, strafing the entire passage with fire as he walked.

Jimmy nodded and reached his horse, or what looked like his horse anyways. There were some mysterious cuts and lacerations everywhere along the torso, no doubt from flying shrapnel like the one that had given him the nasty scar on his eye. He took off his satchel and put it behind his saddle. Hopping onto his horse, he saw that all of the W-12 soldiers had already retreated without them. Just as well, though.

He said to Shaojia as the latter continued to hold off the enemy, "Come on, we need to retreat!" When he saw that Shaojia wouldn't respond, but was slowly back towards him, he repeated, "Let's go, you can't hold them off forever."

Shaojia scoffed as he took a deep breath. He said a little raspily, "You go on ahead, I'll hold them off."

"Don't be a fool!" Jimmy retorted as Shaojia resumed his fiery onslaught. "You can't hold them off for much longer!"

Shaojia scoffed again. "I wasn't giving you a choice." With that, Shaojia brought his free hand in a hook strike to Jimmy's temple, knocking the scientist/soldier unconscious. Before Jimmy could slump to the floor, Shaojia hefted him onto the horse. Smacking the horse's flank with the safe-end of his wooden plank, he sent the horse on its way.

Now Shaojia was alone, staring into an unimaginable horror of a seemingly unlimited amount of Mutant Yolktars that thrived on the living along with the two Yolktar Colossi. The only blessing in this battle seemed to be the fact that the Mutants were rogue and were attacking the boots of the Colossi.

So, with just him, and two different kinds of Yolktar that were warring against each other-- Correction, the Mutants suceeded in bringing down the Colossi, effectively reducing some of their numbers as well, though more Mutant Yolktar continued to pour out of the facility entrance.

Anyways, with just him and a black sea of flesh-devouring monsters, Shaojia casually stuck the stick down on the ground as the aliens made an attempt to organize themselves. He drew his dao and poured his rice wine all over the blade before taking a casual last swig out of it. He then picked up the flaming plank and exhaled the flames onto the horde one last time before using the flame to light the blade of his dao and tossing the burning plank into the mass. Spinning his now fiery dao in intricate motions, Shaojia readied himself.

The Mutant Yolktars charged him.

* * *

**The Afterthought:**

(The Afterthought crew are hanging around a nice '70s convertible outside of a diner)

Author: Alright guys, comments, complaints, acts of giving me 20 bucks?

Shaojia: Why are we at a diner?

Author: (Shrugs) You know, considering I type all of this crap, it's amazing that even I don't know what the Hell's happening sometimes.

JJ from Good Times: Hey! Hey! Hey!

Author: See?

Cindy: Maybe you maimed yourself too many times in these things?

Author: Nah, I've gone through worse. Now, focus on the chapter.

Jimmy: Why did I have to be knocked out? (To Shaojia) You know, you could have been a lot gentler during the filming!

Shaojia: I could've, but my way was funnier.

Author: To answer your question, Jake-

Jimmy: Jimmy, my name's-

Author: Whatever, Josh-

Jimmy: Jimmy-

Author: -Adropov Lewinski. Anyways, you had to be knocked out because I said so. THE END!

Cindy: Alright, moving on to: REVIEWER MAIL!

Jimmy: Cindy, we only got one review and its from long-time fan of the show/fic/movie/thing, Kitty32192. She writes: _dear effing god. first of all, dont let shaojia die! meiling will most likely kill herself, second of all, either yur sister came back from canada, or she's been tutoring you in fluff, cause u got good at it! total yayness! as usual, update! ;)_

Author: Now, do I intend to kill Shaojia off? Or is this a cheap plot device to elongate the story until we finally reach the end of the war with teh final showdown? Well, to figure things out once and for all, let's play-

(We go to a crappy game show set. Shaojia is strapped to a giant wheel.)

All: WHEEL! OF! CRAPPY PLOT DEVICES!

Disembodied Announcer: And here's your host: Author Authorson!

Author: Hey gang and welcome to another show of Wheel of Crappy Plot Devices. First thing on the ballot: Will Shaojia die?

Shaojia: (From wheel) Help!

Author: A-ha, no chance in Hell... Anyways, let's play:

All: WHEEL! OF! CRAPPY PLOT-

Author: Shut up! That's my line! (Fires Uzi into audience) Now, moving on to the game.

(Author blindfolds himself and prepares to throw knives at Shaojia. Meanwhile, a scandily clad assistant spins the wheel. It go fast!)

Shaojia: I think I'm gonna' be sick!

Author: Now hold still, I'm an invisible belt in my shurikenjutsu class!

Jimmy: (Whsipers to Cindy) This might not go so well.

(We hear knives plunking into the board behind Shaojia along with Shaojia's screams of agony)

Shaojia: Oh God! That went into my lung! I only got two of those!

Jimmy: (To audience) Well, once again, we have a horrible sign-off. But at least Author didn't somehow kill himself.

Cindy: Guess again. (Points at where we last saw Author)

(Author is now running full-speed towards Shaojia who is bloody and stabbed. He football tackles Shaojia through the wheel)

Author: IBOUGHTACAR!

Jimmy: When will the insanity end?

Ninja-dude: NEVER!

* * *

**On a serious note, there will be a delay in production because I'm going on vacation. No telling how long it'll be until I get to a computer, but until then, review please!**


	18. Moving Out

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* * *

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**Chapter 18**

**Moving Out**

**(Subtitles Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

**_SOUND EFFECTS_**

* * *

_"Am I scared of death? Of course I am. Who isn't? I've just come to accept that one day I will die. I know it'll happen and it can't be stopped. How and when I die, though, are different issues all together." Grand General Wang Shaojia of W-12_

* * *

The midnight moonlight of Yolkus was the only light source that lit the way for Meiling. Through fierce argument with Quanbei, one of Shaojia's closest friends next to Paosung, she had persuaded him to allow her to lead the assault to rescue Shaojia. Riding closely behind her was General Tian along with Colonel Yang, Brigadier General Hong, and what was left of the 1st Regiment, the soldier division that served on Shaojia's ship, which rounded to about 2,960 soldiers, give or take 10 or 20. To ensure that they would be getting there as quickly as possible, all of the soldiers in the 1st Regiment had been supplied with horses. Their galloping hooves sounded like thunder.

They had been riding for roughly an hour now, and the facility that Shaojia was in was just up ahead. Fire and smoke was drifting out of the base and drifting towards the heavens. Meiling's heart dropped as General Tian finally caught up to her.

"Milady, please, you must wait for the rest of us," General Tian reprimanded before he looked at the compound ahead. "By the gods..."

The front gate of the base was on fire, impeding their march. It was also rather unrecognizable; the top of the gate structure had collapsed and become a large pile of rubble on the ground. The sounds of battle could still be heard from the other side, though, which gave Meiling hope.

"Come on!" Meiling yelled as she took out her war fans. She urged her horse forward despite General Tian's warning. Her breathing hastened as the horse galloped towards the fiery remains of the gate. At the last second, she urged her horse to jump over the fire. General Tian followed her closely along with the rest of Shaojia's regiment.

* * *

Cindy sat by Jimmy's side as the medic, about a year older than her, checked his EKG. His pulse was normal, but it seemed as if he had suffered a mighty powerful blow to the temple to be knocked out like that. Other than that, he had some minor bruises on his back along with the scar near his eye that, since it was caused by a burn and not a laceration, could not be removed by any Enforcer medicine.

"So how is he, doctor?" Cindy asked as she held Jimmy's hand.

The doctor tapped on the EKG lightly before checking his IV. "Well, I don't have any CTs to refer to, but he's pretty much still intact, ma'am. Just need a few hours bed rest or so." He then looked at Cindy directly. "Now ma'am, I've noticed the closeness between you two, and I don't know the customs in your universe, but you two are an early-aged couple in mine. As a physician, I am obligated to inform you about Safe S-"

Cindy stood up and put her fist directly under the medic's chin. "Finish that sentence, and we'll see if doctors really do make bad patients." The medic gulped nervously and scurried out of the tent.

After he left, Libby entered the room and sat next to her friend. "How is he?" she asked Cindy as the blonde continued to hold onto Jimmy's hand.

Cindy smiled weakly. "The medic said he'll be fine, he just needs some rest."

Libby smiled in return as she put a friendly and reassuring arm over Cindy's shoulders. "How are you holding up?"

"Relieved," Cindy exhaled. "I'm just glad he's alright." Libby nodded respectfully as she watched her friend continue to pat Jimmy's hand.

Soon, though, the unconscious genius began to stir. With a groan, his other hand went to his head. "Ugh, my head..." Slowly, he opened his eyes and focused weakly on Cindy. "Ci-Cindy? What are you doing here? Wait, where am I?" Meanwhile, Libby made her way out of the tent as to save herself the need to gag herself every time the two geniuses got sentimental.

Cindy smiled softly before she latched herself tightly into Jimmy's chest. "Jimmy, you idiot, you could have gotten yourself killed..." she murmured through teary eyes before she pulled away abruptly. Slapping Jimmy hard across the face she yelled, "Jimmy, you idiot, you could've gotten yourself killed!"

Jimmy muttered lowly as he rubbed his abused cheek. "It could've been worse," he reasoned with himself before he jumped to his feet, all pain forgotten. "Where's the data? More importantly, where's Shaojia?"

Cindy looked up at Jimmy before looking down at the ground. "We don't know. We assumed from your mumblings when you were asleep that you guys had been ambushed and he had to hold off the enemy for you guys to escape."

Jimmy muttered something angrily and said, "Let's go! He can't hold them off for long!" Suddenly, he felt weak and fell to one knee.

Cindy immediately rushed to his side. "Take it easy, Jimmy. Meiling's already headed down there to help him along with like 3,000 soldiers."

Jimmy felt too weak to even argue now as the pain in his temple overrode his other senses. "Agh, did he have to hit so hard?" he muttered as he laid back down on his mat.

"What was that?" Cindy asked in confusion.

"Shaojia," Jimmy said as he stared at the tent ceiling. "It's all coming back now. Shaojia knocked me out and must've put me on my horse and sent me away." Looking over to Cindy, he asked, "How long have I been out?"

"About three hours," she said as Jimmy began to lose even more strength, now starting to drift in and out of sleep. His ordeal had taken even more out of him than he thought. "The ship's nearby. Want me to have one of the soldiers pop by your lab in the ship and pick up Goddard?"

Jimmy nodded as his vision began to blur. Cindy waited until Jimmy finally passed out from over-exertion before she left to fulfill Jimmy's request. She could only wonder what happened at that facility to wear Jimmy out like that. Jimmy hoped she would never find out.

* * *

Meiling's heart dropped as she watched the hordes of monsters swarm around a figure that spun and attacked with a flaming dao. She knew who the figure was, but she also knew the odds of him escaping alive. She didn't even have to order anyone to be quiet as she counted how many of the beasts were still trying to kill her beloved.

20 of the beasts kept Shaojia locked inside a tight circle. Shaojia, from what Meiling could see, was heavily injured. Though there was not a lot of light, the flaming dao he held was enough to illuminate the several burn scars over his armor, the hole in his lower torso armor plate, and the way his chest heaved up and down heavily as he tried to breath.

Anger and worry welt up inside of her as she looked at her war fans. 'These will have to do,' she thought as she dismounted her horse.

"Milady, wait!" General Tian cried after her as he too dismounted his horse. Drawing his dao, he followed her as she charged at the slowly decreasing alien horde, now at 17 creatures.

Hearing her voice, Shaojia made the mistake of looking away from his opponents. Immediately, the Mutant Yolktar behind him jumped him. Fortunately enough, Shaojia was distracted only for a split-second as he swung backwards at the Mutant Yolktar, deftly taking out another one as he fought his way to Meiling.

He used what was left of his strength to jump over the heads of the Mutant Yolktars. Landing lightly on his feet, he brought his sword to bear as he kept his back to Meiling. The remaining Mutants charged him, but he simply hacked away at them. One came at him with a burning plank of wood. He grabbed it with his bare hand, injuring himself to pull the alien into his own fiery weapon. He threw the flaming plank into another Mutant, setting it on fire. One by one, he destroyed the mutated aliens as they charged towards him, almost getting his head burned off in the process. Finally, the last one fell. At last, his nightmare was over. But for Meiling, it was just beginning.

Shaojia took out the dao's sheath and sheathed the blade away from his body, effectively putting out the flames. Shoving the sheath back to its place at his side, he turned around to meet Meiling who was now running towards him. He smiled weakly before he dropped to one knee, coughing up an enormous amount of blood which was tinted a dark black probably due to smoke. He looked up weakly at Meiling and smiled in apology before collapsing to the ground. His helmet rolled forward towards Meiling as he hit the ground with a sickening thud, blood starting to sink into the ground.

"General!" was the unanimous cry as Shaojia's soldiers dismounted and ran towards their fallen leader. Gathering around, they immediately tried to see if Shaojia had indeed met his match on the planet Yolkus.

"Shaojia..." Meiling cried as she clutched Shaojia's fallen helmet. Reluctantly, she crawled towards Shaojia while General Tian approached his old friend a bit more quickly, his dao sheathed and his own helmet taken off out of respect.

General Tian knelt beside his comrade and checked his pulse. By now, Meiling had reached Shaojia and was crying harder than ever as she looked over his wounds. There was an acidic hole burnt straight through one of his kidney areas. His entire face, now calm and at peace, was covered in ash, soot, and blood. Deep dents and burn scarring on his armors showed the intensity of the beating he had taken. Had it not been for the clay and reinforced-steel armor, he would have gone down much, much sooner.

Meiling looked expectantly towards General Tian. He shook his head solemnly as he beckoned over two medics. "Barely a pulse," he whispered as the medics arrived. One of them kneeled down for the other to pull out a portable stretcher.

As the other medic set up the stretcher, the other checked Shaojia's vitals more thoroughly. "He's lost a lot of blood, but I can stabilize him enough so that we can transport him to base camp as our own pace."

Meiling couldn't even respond as she caressed Shaojia's face softly. Already, his cheeks were starting to feel cold. In the dim moonlight, he could see that he was growing paler. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up at General Tian as the medics tried to stabilize Shaojia.

"He finally told you, didn't he?" Tian asked, already knowing the truth. Meiling simply nodded. "Well, though you're not in the Enforcer ranks nor are you officially his wife, I know Shaojia well enough to know that he'd ask you sooner or later. That makes you the de facto leader by our custom, I think. Orders, ma'am?"

Meiling sniffled as she looked around at the ruins of the military base, as it was apparent that that was what it once was. She swallowed the lump in her throat as she stood up. She looked over at Shaojia's troops. In her brief period of grieving, she hadn't noticed all of Shaojia's men laying down their weapons and kowtowing.

"Rise," she muttered, her voice very hoarse. General Tian bellowed out her command. She looked over at him gracefully before proceeding in a louder voice. "I want all but one company of soldiers to stay here and guard this pass, but don't explore around the place. If you encounter too much trouble, retreat immediately. The company of soldiers will accompany me, General Wang, and General Tian back to the fort."

They all knew what she meant by her orders and what she really wanted them to do. Immediately, all of the medics in the one company that would accompany the return force pulled out a white body cover cloth and used their qiang to pierce them, making white flags/banners; white, the color of mourning in Asian cultures.

Meanwhile, the two medics had stabilized Shaojia and had strapped him in-between their horses. Meiling mounted her horse as well and made her way out towards the gate. The procession followed solemnly behind her at a slow, mournful pace, white flags fluttering weakly in the desolate winds.

* * *

About two hours had passed and Cindy still refused to leave Jimmy's side. She looked at her watch as she continued to comb her hand through Jimmy's hair while Goddard slept in a ball beside them. It was now 2 o'clock in the morning. She looked at Libby who had been standing watch by the tent entrance along with Brigadier General Yao. Her friend shook her head. That had been their sign that Meiling had yet to come back.

Suddenly, Libby looked up from her inattentive stance and walked away from the tent before running back in a few seconds later. "They're back!" she said quietly as to not disturb Jimmy. Goddard perked his ears up and looked around.

Cindy looked up from her spot and finally removed herself from Jimmy's side. The two girls crept out of the tent as silently as possible. A few seconds after they left, Jimmy's eyes shot back open. Pausing only to massage his sore temple, he followed the girls out of the tent, Goddard close behind.

Up ahead, in the faint Yolkian moonlight, he saw a large procession making their way towards the medical camp. Leading the procession was Meiling with General Tian behind her on her right. Behind them were two medics with a stretcher held in-between their horses with rope. A white cloth was draped over the body. Jimmy felt a lump in his throat as he stepped out of the shadows.

He ignored Cindy's protesting looks as he analyzed the situation. All around, medical personnel were kowtowing as the procession passed them. White banners flew at decorative locations throughout the procession. From what he could recall, white was the color of death in Asia so... 'Oh no...'

Jimmy gritted his teeth as the pain in his head grew stronger. He locked eyes with Meiling who simply looked away with tears in her eyes. He then looked over to General Tian. Shaojia's close friend shook his head as he dismounted his horse and led the medics carrying Shaojia in front of a tent across from Jimmy's. Immediately, doctors helped to unstrap the stretcher. Before they led the stretcher into the tent, General Tian peeled away the white cover to reveal Wang Shaojia lying motionless on the stretcher, pale and breathing heavily. Well, at least he was breathing.

As the medics entered the tent, murmurings instantly went up all around them. Over the whispers, Jimmy asked General Tian, "Did you find him like that?"

He shook his head. "No, he was fighting these monstrous creatures that burned everything they touched. He collapsed after he had defeated them."

Suddenly, a soldier came running up to General Tian and saluted, "Sir, we have an incoming transmission from the 1st Regiment. They're retreating!"

General Tian looked shocked, but Jimmy wasn't too surprised, having already seen what the Mutant Yolktars have done to people. The dissolved flesh and bones of some of the soldiers that had fallen would stick with him to his dying day. "Prepare a fire attack. Open fire as soon as you set up. If they reach the fort, there'd be practically no way to repel them," Jimmy ordered. Now that Shaojia was incapacitated, he was in charge as a grand general.

General Tian looked at Jimmy reluctantly before conceding. "Yes, sir." He then walked off with the other soldier in tow.

Jimmy looked out of the corner of his eye as Cindy and Libby moved in to comfort the crushed Meiling. He sighed as he leaned on the electroaxe he had somehow managed to keep with him throughout the entire ordeal. This would not end well at all. He took a sidewards glance at Shaojia's tent, medics running in and out of it at almost timed intervals. Lifting a hand to run over the burn scar he had received during the raid, he sighed again before walking/limping towards Shaojia's tent.

The tent was practically covered with medical equipment. And blood. Lots and lots of blood. He watched silently as a medic swore at a malfunctioning EKG unit and yelled at another to get another one in what sounded like Cantonese Chinese. Meanwhile, Shaojia lay as still as a corpse--Okay, maybe not the smartest choice of words-- on the mat provided for him, another medic attempting to take off his armor as to get a better look at the hole that had been punched through one of Shaojia's kidney areas.

Jimmy could no longer bare the weight on his shoulders. While Shaojia lay half-dead in his own blood, Jimmy slipped out of the tent to retreat from the horrors of the past day. Goddard followed his master dutifully.

* * *

"Jimmy!" Cindy called out as she tried to find the scientist. After consoling Meiling enough to the point that she could actually sleep, Cindy set out to find Jimmy who had disappeared some time before that. She had told Libby to go get some sleep, so she was on her own, at 4 in the morning, looking for someone who had gone through 20 different Hells and back, if Shaojia's state of health was any indication of what they had faced.

At the moment, she was in the street adjacent to the mayor's estate. She called out again, and again no answer, though a soldier from far off did yell back, "Shut up! Some of us wanna' get to sleep!" The soldier would have been very glad Cindy was too worried to hear him.

"Jimmy!" she called out again as she wandered the streets. She sighed and sat down next to the road. From far away, she could still hear the defense force that was repelling whatever enemy force the 1st Regiment had dragged with them. Then, she had a thought. That was where Jimmy probably was! She picked herself and ran towards the sounds of battle.

In a matter of minutes, she reached the gate that would lead out of the fort. Where the gate should have been were three M777 Howitzers, blasting away at a very odd and very frightening adversary. They were like ghosts, acidic semi-liquid goo dripping off of their bodies. Their movements were quick and startling like that of a ghost dog. In short, they creeped the Hell out of Cindy.

She then saw Jimmy, up on the ramparts of the gate's walls along with General Tian and several archers that poured down on the enemy with fire arrows, matches, and what appeared to be tanks of kerosene. She quickly ascended to the ramparts using the Yolkian aero-lift.

"There you are," she said softly as she looked at Jimmy. His face was contorted and stresses, as if he were mulling over a great dilemma. Beside him, Goddard joined in on the attack using a flame thrower, no doubt invented by Jimmy himself.

Jimmy looked over his shoulder at Cindy and smiled slightly before turning his attention to the enemy below. "I think we've just about killed them all," he said as he looked over the vast stretch of land that the monsters had traversed to get here. It was entirely empty aside from the occasional flames flickering out. Far off in the distance was the base Jimmy had set out to destroy, burning brightly into the night. Walking next to Jimmy's side by the ramparts, she peered over them and found that there were only about 20 of the beasts left.

"What are they?" Cindy asked in morbid fascination.

"They're mutated Yolktars," Jimmy explained, relaying the information he had learned. "According to a datachart I found, when a Yolktar is exposed to certain biological compounds, they're aging can be accelerated and they lose their sense of Friend or Foe. They can only be stopped by fire." He gestured below at the wall of fire that rose up as soldiers around them dumped kerosene onto the remaining aliens and lit them up with matches. "They're what killed Shaojia."

"Don't say that," Cindy reprimanded softly as she walked up to him. Putting a hand on his shoulder, she continued. "Shaojia isn't dead. While I was looking for you, I checked out Shaojia's tent. He stable now, and if he can get enough blood, he'll be able to make a full it through the night. Remember, he told us that he had been shot 25 times in a single event by a machine gun or something like that. I'm sure he can survive this."

Jimmy just shook his head and sunk down until his knees were held against his knee. Meanwhile, General Tian rounded up the men and ordered them to depart and get some rest. General Tian paused by Jimmy and put a hand on his shoulder before walking off.

Jimmy sighed. "I don't know, just his condition is nerve-racking, you know? And now what am I supposed to do? I'm out of a teacher. Shaojia's been helping me every step of the way."

Cindy smiled softly as she sat down next to Jimmy. Goddard crawled into her lap. Stroking Goddard's metallic head, she replied, "I know. You said he was like a teacher, right? Well, either he's a bad teacher or you're a bad student for not learning anything throughout all of this." She looked at Goddard and smiled before quoting to Jimmy, "So buck up, mister, and put that big brain of yours back to work. We'll need it."

Jimmy smiled as Cindy brought both of them back to their first time on Yolkus, in a Yolkian detention cell, when everything was basically hopeless. He then looked back down to the floor. "Get some sleep, Cindy. I'll come up with a plan for tomorrow."

"What about you?" she asked as she rubbed Goddard's metal stomach plates. "You should rest, too."

Jimmy shook his head. "Even if I try, I know I probably can't." He then got up and walked towards the lift. "Come on, Goddard. We got work to do." With that, he descended the lift with his mechanical dog in tow. Cindy just watched as she began to get the sinking feeling that a change was coming. A big change.

* * *

King Goobot waited anxiously in his war room for his two cohorts, Eustace Strych and Finbarr Calamitous. It was around dawn, or what seemed to be dawn. Ever since those Enforcers altered Yolkus' rotation, he couldn't keep track of time. Finally, his partners arrived with their Yolkian escorts. "Ah, good, come, come. I have much to tell you."

"I hope one of the things you're going to tell me is why you woke us up at 6 in the morning, you twit!" Eustace screeched, stilled dressed in his baby blue pajamas and night cap.

"Oh pipe down, you big baby," Calamitous shot back as he adjusted his lab coat. "At least I had enough sense to get dressed."

"That's what I said to your mother after I got out of bed!" Eustace retorted rudely.

"Why you...!" Calamitous fumed as he glared up at Strych.

Before his two human allies could get into a fist-fight, Goobot intervened. "Gentlemen! Please, this is not what should precede good news."

"Good news?" the two humans said in unison. They then went back to glaring at each other.

Goobot grinned as he activated the yolpokiri and rewound it to around the time his Colossi had entered the base. "At approximately 6 o'clock in the afternoon, your Human time of course, my forces engaged the nearly 40-strong 'Enforcer' group." He pressed quick-play and the ensuing battle played out at a faster rate. Eventually, they came to the part where an Enforcer general knocked out Jimmy where he was soon surrounded by the Mutant Yolktars.

"What are those creatures?" Calamitous asked as he gestured towards one of the Mutant Yolktars.

"The research labs received a report on them from this base's exact coordinates," Goobot said. "According to the reports, they are the result of a bio-chemical reaction that altered the Yolktar DNA, turning them from subordinate soldiers to rogue beasts. Nevertheless, they carried out a tremendously good deed for us." He fast-forwarded it to where the Enforcer general defeated them all.

"Hmph!" Eustace scoffed as he sneered at Goobot. "It seems as you passed up this part of the movie."

"Watch," Goobot pointed as he zoomed in on the Enforcer. He froze the video and pointed at him. "This here, according to video feed from the last few days, is 'Grand General Wang Shaojia' as he is called by others." He then pressed play, and Shaojia's collapse played for all in the room to see. From the drop to one knee to the finally collapse, it seemed as if General Wang was dead. "We have killed the Enforcer's highest general."

Goobot watched with glee as Eustace and Calamitous laughed in triumph. "Finally, some good news!" Calamitous shouted.

"Now what?" Eustace asked as he walked over to the Yolpokiri. "Just because one wanker is dead doesn't mean the others will drop like flies as well. This is obviously a trained military, and this fellow's death probably won't be made public if the higher officers have anything to say about it."

Goobot simply scoffed. "Without an advisor skilled in war, Neutron is a fish out of water. He won't last long."

"So how do we eliminate the rest of the Enforcers?" Calamitous asked as he walked over to the yolpokiri as well.

Goobot adjusted the Yolpokiri so that it was now showing live satellite video feed of the entire battlefield from all around Poultra's Crown. He analyzed the map carefully before he said, "I will have all of my citizens hide in the catacombs underground to avoid destruction by the Enforcers. Then, we'll just prolong this was as long as possible using only the Yolktars. They can't last long. They'll eventually lose hope. In the meantime, though, I'll monitor Neutron's forces for any suspicious activity. Perhaps the Enforcer general is not dead, but just wounded."

Calamitous nodded as he made his way out the door. "While you do that, I will prepare to face Neutron if he actually does make it this far. My suit's upgrades are almost ready, just a week more, perhaps."

Eustace simply crossed his arms and spat on Goobot's floor once more. "Well I'm going back to sleep! Wake me when something else important happens."

As Eustace slammed the doors shut behind him, leaving Goobot and several advisors and soldiers in the war room, Goobot sighed as he began to examine the yolpokiri. "If Neutron somehow survives this, I am never partnering up with those two again."

* * *

The soft light from the Yolkian sun warmed Jimmy's face as he began to stir. After he had left Cindy with Goddard, he went to his lab in the ship, got all of his stuff packed, and set up shop in Mayor Nravalok's basement. He had been up basically the entire night working on new inventions, mainly weapons that would more than tip the scale in their favor, maybe even force the Yolkians to surrender. Since the Yolkian Navy was destroyed, there would be no way for the League of Villains to escape. At least, that had been the plan. He had wasted all of his energy on one single project.

At 5 in the morning, though, his body finally gave out on him and he slumped out of his chair and onto the basement floor asleep. Goddard whined as he tried to lick his master asleep. Looking up at the basement window before turning his attention to Goddard, Jimmy mumbled wearily, "What time is it, boy?"

Goddard opened his chest plate to reveal the time like a digital clock. He said in an overly exaggerated, automated voice, "The time now is: Seven-Twenty-Nine AM." Continuing his little joke, he played some soft elevator music. "Please hold while we redirect your call."

Jimmy smiled weakly as he got up. Rubbing his eyes, he looked at what he had invented last night. Sitting on his tool desk were the schematics for a suit of armor that would fit in well with their needs, along with the only thing he had worked on. It was basically a knock-off of Medieval European plate armor, but with less emphasis on decoration and more emphasis on defense.

According to the schematics, the lowest layer of armor would be a full-body suit of Kevlar fitted with an automatic cooling system to keep body temperatures at a comfortable setting and help avoid the possibility of heat stroke. The next layer of armor was steel and titanium alloy-reinforced plates. Like the plate armor found on the knights of yore, the plates covered the chest, back, arms, legs, and groin.

Along with the armor came the specialized protection wrist gauntlets Jimmy planned on installing. Since the Yolktars appeared to be flammable and were basically the only thing standing between them and victory now, he wanted to install flamethrowers into the wrist gauntlets of the armor. If not in use, the gauntlets would then serve as an effective knife as the nozzle that would spray out fire on the opponents would have a small blade fixed on top of it which was detachable.

However, the thing that set the armor apart from the rest of the armor was the helmet. Based on the old Barbute-style helmets during the Middle Ages, they struck a striking resemblance to the Enforcer-issued helmets, right down to the fiber-glass, T-shaped visor. His model, though, was to have the visor act as a Heads-Up-Display (HUD) for more accurate gunmanship, sunglasses, night-vision goggles, thermal goggles, and intimidating implement to force enemies to surrender. The helmet itself, besides providing the obvious protection, would act as a radio. In his previous deliriously tired state, he joked to himself about adding a drink cozy on top to make it look like one of those beer hats one would find at a sporting arena.

As he began to get back to work on his new armor design, Cindy walked down the stairs holding a tray of breakfast, pancakes with syrup along with a cup of hot coffee. So caught up in his work, he didn't notice Cindy approach, but Goddard did. The mechanical hound barked happily and walked up to Cindy.

Cindy smiled as she passed Goddard. She stood silently as she watched Jimmy worked. "Morning," she finally said after a few seconds. "I brought you breakfast."

Jimmy looked over his shoulder with slightly blood-shot eyes and yawned. "Thanks," he muttered back before rubbing his lower back and standing up.

Cindy placed the breakfast tray on another nearby desk, this one obviously for eating purpose since there was a mini-fridge right next to it. "What're you working on?" she asked as she moved over towards Jimmy's work station while Jimmy went over to his breakfast.

"Armor designs," he muttered as he took a sip of the coffee. The caffeine and sugar in the black brew immediately woke Jimmy up a bit. "Great coffee," he commented to Cindy.

Cindy blushed as she looked over the blueprints for the armor. Meanwhile, Goddard just watched the exchange with interest, recording it for future generations and humorous conversation starters. "Thanks, I decided to make it myself."

Jimmy smiled as he put down the coffee and ate the pancakes. "Well, what do you think of the armor?"

Cindy rubbed her chin while placing her other hand on her hip. "Hmm, it looks pretty sound to me. But how are you going to make it?"

"That's the hard part," Jimmy muttered as took another sip of coffee. "Usually, I borrowed some spare parts from that military base that Mayor Hunts decommissioned about 5 months ago. You know the one just outside of Retroville? But now, I don't have much to work with. Especially this weak Yolkian material."

Cindy pondered this for about a minute before snapping her fingers. "I've got it! Why don't you just send those blueprints over to those CelestiCorp guys? I mean, we are official Enforcers now, and since everyone else seems to complain so much about them, I'm sure they'll love to put this into production immediately!"

"Great idea, Cindy," Jimmy murmured, "Only one problem though; There's no CelestiCorp branch in our universe's sector yet." The two preteens sighed before Jimmy said, "Maybe we can pass this along to Shaojia's friend, Paosung?"

Cindy nodded. "But how do we get in touch with him?" Again, the teens sighed in disappointment.

* * *

Meiling sat in the chair provided for her in Shaojia's room. The medic had told her last night that if he could get enough blood back into his body, he would make it through the night. Now it was about an hour or two past dawn. She had stayed up the entire night, and her body was still yelling at her. Her keister was sore from sitting at her post the entire night. But she knew that this was a small price to see Shaojia wake up.

A rustling of a tent caught her attention as General Tian entered the room with his helmet tucked under his arm. "Lady Meiling?" he said in confusion. "Have you been here the entire night?" Meiling nodded, not wanting to say a word. General Tian shook his head and stuck it back out of the tent to yell at the two guards outside to get her something to eat. "You should get some rest."

Meiling shook her head as she continued to look at Shaojia's prone body. A medic soon entered to check on Shaojia's vitals. As soon as he did the necessary test, he said to the other two in the room. "His body accepted the blood, and we were able to reconstruct that kidney, but he is suffering from minor smoke inhalation. I'll have someone come in and prep his IV with the necessary medication to clear that up. After that, he's expected to make a full recovery by twilight tonight, considering his, ahem, specific blood cultures." He looked pointedly at General Tian and Shaojia, both demons, as he said the last part.

"Thank you, doctor," Meiling muttered her first word of the day, though it was barely above a whisper.

The medic smiled slightly before looking at General Tian. "Sir, though you are of higher rank, I ask that you strictly adhere to this order. When he wakes up, keep him from walking around at all cost. We can't risk him over-exerting himself or the smoke in his lungs could accidentally be passed along his bloodstream."

General Tian nodded and the medic exited the tent. A few minutes passed before a noise was emitted from neither of the other two people in the room. Looking to Shaojia, Meiling and Tian were relieved to see him stir. "Where am I?" Shaojia murmured as he attempted to sit up.

General Tian immediately jumped to Shaojia's side to keep him from getting up. "Stay down, you're still critically injured. You need to rest."

Shaojia clenched his jaws as he lowered himself back down and nodded. "Where's Meiling?"

"I'm right here," Meiling whimpered as she collapsed out of her chair and crawled over to Shaojia. "You could've gotten yourself killed!" She buried her head into Shaojia's chest which still covered by his armor, most of it anyway. His lower abdomen was uncovered down to the waist in order to do the surgery and in post-op condition, it wasn't that good of an idea to cover it up just yet.

"I could've," he joked as he looked tenderly towards her. "But then I wouldn't be able to come back to you." He smiled as Meiling blushed before looking over to General Tian. "How long do I have to stay inactive?" he asked in a stronger, clearer voice than before.

"I don't know," Tian replied as the two guards he had sent off entered with a tray of breakfast, a glass of hot tea and a few steamed buns called baozi. He directed them over to Meiling. "Milady, please eat."

Meiling looked over to Shaojia who nodded. "Eat," he said, "you'll need to keep up your strength."

"What about you?" she asked.

Shaojia scoffed as he sat up with ease and cracked his neck. "I can feel my strength coming back to me already! I feel as strong as an ox!"

General Tian intervened, shoving Shaojia back down a bit more forcefully. "You still need to rest. Doctor's orders."

Shaojia closed his eyes in contempt as he mumbled in annoyance. "So what's the situation?"

"I don't know," General Tian reported as he sat up and walked to the tent entrance. "What was left of those beasts that you had to fight yesterday chased the entire 1st Regiment back here. Luckily, no casualties. We defended the fort valiantly until oh-2-hundred hours this morning."

Shaojia nodded as a male wearing a pair of red medical scrubs walked into the tent. Upon seeing that Shaojia was awake, he kowtowed immediately, "Your Highness!"

Shaojia gritted his teeth at the unnecessary use of the title on the battlefield. "You can rise now," he muttered.

"Just going to inject you with something to take care of the minor smoke inhalation in your lungs, sir," the medic said before doing the aforementioned procedure and exiting the tent almost as quickly as he arrived.

"Smoke inhalation?" Shaojia asked himself. Taking a deep breath, he commented, "They seem to work fine to me."

General Tian shook his head. "Just promise me that you won't get up and start making your rounds until the doctor dismisses you? I've got to find General Neutron and find out what his orders for today are seeing as you're incapacitated until further notice."

Shaojia nodded as he put his hands behind his head and relaxed on them. As soon as Tian exited the tent, Shaojia immediately sat up. Meiling simply shook her head at Shaojia's stubbornness before offering him half of her baozi.

Jimmy and Cindy were walking down the main street of Fort Divine Justice while Goddard slept peacefully back in Jimmy's lab. After Jimmy had finished his breakfast, they had decided to visit Shaojia, hoping his condition had improved. When they had neared the medical camp, they saw General Tian exiting Shaojia's tent.

Walking up to him, Jimmy asked, "How's Shaojia?"

"He's doing fine," Tian answered as he gestured towards the tent. He then snapped to attention. "Sir, what are your orders for today?"

Jimmy grew a blank look as he pondered this over. "Just have the men train until I think of something. I want to advance, but with Shaojia as he is, it'll be hard to, and we just can't leave him behind."

"Yes you can!" someone yelled from inside the tent. Looking curiously at it, the others entered the tent.

Shaojia was sitting against a propped up pillow while Meiling sat quietly beside him, munching on half of a baozi while Shaojia ate the other half. With his defined medical eye, he examined Shaojia's injuries. His breathing was a bit irregular, most likely smoke inhalation. He seemed to prefer one side to his body than to his other now, a possible sign that he had just had surgery, most likely the truth due to the big hole on his armor he had the other night.

"What do you mean?" Jimmy asked.

Shaojia looked at General Tian. "General, do you mind taking Colonel Vortex and Lady Meiling to examine the troops? Have ours practice some of their marching drills." General Tian nodded and escorted the reluctant young ladies out of the tent. Now, he looked pointedly at Jimmy. "I'm surprised that you haven't figured it out yet but with all things considered, you've had your hands a bit tied."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow as he went over to sit in a nearby chair. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know if it's the morphine, but I figured it out. Think about it," Shaojia said as he began to retell past events. "That place we went to was the only military base in our area of the Rings, or so I've heard from some reports I had Tian bring me. There's no way for the force that we met outside of the capitol's walls to get from here to there that quickly. It took us a few days to get here, though we did have to fight our way here. There's no way that they could have crossed all of that land with that big of a force in so little time. They knew we were coming. Satellite probes from our own ships showed that Yolkian dropships were dropping them off just on the outer limits of the last Ring."

Jimmy nodded as the pieces fell into place. "By Einstein's Ghost, you're right. But how?"

Shaojia simply pointed at the roof of the tent, or how he really meant it, the skies. "This is still an advanced alien race, though their war-style doesn't reflect it. They must have satellites up in orbit somewhere, maybe disguised as asteroids or something."

Jimmy sighed as he slumped in his chair. "Well, what are we going to do about it?"

"Not much, really," Shaojia stated bluntly. "They must think I'm dead. I can't risk being spotted by their satellites."

"Why not?" Jimmy asked. "All that they'll think is that they didn't kill you and they're forces are worthless."

"I've gone up against hundreds of groups like the League of Villains," Shaojia explained. "Off the top of my head, I remember facing 10 Leagues of Villains, 12 Injustice Leagues, 5 Leagues of Extraordinary Evil Doers, and 3 Evil Uniteds. Of all of those, they have the same tactic if something doesn't go right; try harder. They won't stop until one of us is actually dead for good."

"So you're saying they'll double their efforts?" Jimmy asked as he tried to think a way around this.

Shaojia nodded, "Precisely."

Jimmy shook his head. "No, you can't go underground just yet." He then pulled out the blueprints to his armor and showed them to Shaojia. "Last night, I couldn't sleep so I designed these. If we can equip my men with these, we can push back anything the League of Villains try to throw at us."

Shaojia looked over the schematics silently, his jaw dropping a centimeter more as he read. "Amazing... Can you make this?"

Jimmy shook his head. "No, I don't have the materials. But I think I know who does."

Shaojia nodded as he said to a medic who had come to check on him, "Do what you need to do, and get me a video phone."

* * *

Paosung mixed the sugar into his coffee at the break room of the Lab 52 worker's lounge which was connected by a single doorway to the main laboratory. He had gotten there about 30 minutes ago, and wasn't too surprised that he was the only one there, seeing as it was Sunday again.

He exited the break room and walked through the laboratory, an entire array of blinking lights, cold machinery, and industrial accidents just waiting to happen, knowing the current staff. He looked at the sign next to his office which read '3 Days without an Industrial Accident!' He simply shook his head and thought, 'If these idiots can make it a week, I'll give 'em a bonus.' He laughed dryly and shook his head. 'Like they can last that long.'

He sighed as he entered his office. Sitting down, he sighed and propped his feet up on his desk as he relaxed, his white lab coat draped over his chair while his mechanical hand held his coffee. He grimaced as he drank the coffee, not the taste of the brew, but the thought of his hand. How long ago was it when he lost it in that war? He couldn't remember, or more accurately, he didn't want to remember.

He stared sadly at the picture taped to the side of his computer monitor. It was a picture of him, about 10 years old, Shaojia who was 11 then, General Tian Quanbei who was their friend, and another kid who was a human and was a tad older than Paosung. Like everyone else's, his hair was tied back into a Manchurian braid. It was none other than General Chun Kaifeng from Shandong Province, a friend of theirs who had died during the Second Cold War in R-7. That picture was taken a day before that war.

Paosung was of course the youngest of the group, having started out only four months before. He had risen to Colonel practically overnight, though, due to his ingenious ploys and strategies during the civil war in P-2. Then, he served again in R-7, roughly a week later. That's when things started to go to shits. Though it only lasted a month, it nearly destroyed the Earth and got Kaifeng killed.

Now it was starting to come back to him. Barely a month after that war ended, another crisis sprung up in O-19. That's where he lost his arm, and when Shaojia had no choice but to honorably discharge him from further service. A year and a half had passed since then, but it seemed more like it had spanned longer than his entire life time.

He shook his head as he started to remember the good times they had instead, but he quickly shoved all of them out of his mind when his computer monitored displayed a message reading, 'You have one video call.'

Paosung activated the communication. On screen came Shaojia's face with Jimmy Neutron sitting in a chair next to him. "A-Shaojia-ge!" Paosung said cheerfully. "Great to see that you're still in once piece!"

Shaojia smiled as he looked at his old friend. "Nice to see you, too. Listen, you're in charge of the Department of Warfare Development now, right?"

Paosung shook his head as he squeezed the bridge of his nose. "Ugh, don't remind me. I've had to go through so many stupid ideas from our universe... Someone thought it was a good idea to make a 'yo-yo bomb.' Damn shame the guy who made it fell off of the catwalks before I could push him off myself."

Shaojia shook his head while Jimmy resisted laughing at the mockery to science that was CelestiCorp. "You need a vacation," Shaojia said as he took out a rolled up blueprint. "But it's good that you're still in charge, though, because you'll be the first to finally see the best thing to come out of CelestiCorp in years." Shaojia placed the blueprints out of sight. "I'm sending a copy of them to you now."

Paosung waited for a second until the little 'You've got mail,' pop-up appeared on the screen. He clicked it to activate it. Like Shaojia, his jaw dropped more and more as he read. "This is amazing work, no design flaws, an idea that is actually useful, who made this? Obviously no one from W-12." He then began to have the blueprints printed out.

"That'd be General Neutron here," Shaojia said, pointing to Jimmy. "Take it from here, Jim. Personally, I think most of that science stuff is a bunch of voodoo, so I won't be of much help."

Jimmy rolled his eyes and centered the video phone's focus on him. "Alright, so can you get those blueprints made into the real thing?"

Paosung sighed sadly as he shook his head. "Not right now, no. I think I'm the only person who actually showed up to work today. I could probably forward this to the department heads in other universes, though, since I'm currently understaffed and you have no staff. Uh, wait a second, I think I see someone."

Paosung got up from his chair and looked out of his office window. Like a flood, all of the Lab 52 personnel entered the laboratory, first a few, then a whole swarm, all of them looking very unhappy to be there. "Morning, Grand Department Minister Li," was the monotone greeting he got from all of them.

"That's a lot of someones," he murmured lowly as he re-entered his office. "Nevermind, if you trust these jackasses that work for me enough to do their job right, which they do half the time when I think of something for them to make, then I'll have them drop all of their assignments and work on this armor. By noon, it should be available in the entire Enforcer matter generator database."

Jimmy nodded as he grinned brightly, "Thanks, this'll definitely help all Enforcer war efforts."

Paosung nodded and said a bit solemnly. "Don't mention it, sport. Look, I gotta' go. Tell Shaojia to make sure he doesn't turn out like Ol' Chun. Li: Out." Paosung turned off the conversation pop-up and got out of his chair. Clasping his hands behind his back, he exhaled gently as he looked at his subordinate scientists working. Walking towards the door with the copied blueprints in hand, he kicked it open and yelled at the scientists in the room. "Alright, I got a job for all of you! Mess this up, and someone's getting a beaker in the eye and my shoe up their ass!"

* * *

"Who's 'Ol' Chun'?" Jimmy asked as he gave the video phone, an oversized studio camera with phone functionality, to a medic waiting outside.

Shaojia took a deep breath as he reached into a small bag tied to his waist that was barely noticeable. He took out a picture and gave it to Jimmy. Jimmy looked over at it and instantly recognized Paosung, who looked about 10 years old, Shaojia who was 11 then, General Tian who was also 11, and then there was someone he didn't recognize.

"General Chun Kaifeng, or as we like to call him nowadays, 'Ol' Chun,' was actually the second youngest in the little group with me being the oldest by a few months, then General Tian, with Paosung bringing up the rear as the runt," Shaojia explained as he folded his hands behind his head and reminisced.

"What happened to him?" Jimmy asked. "I didn't see him at the meeting a few days ago. Is he retired?"

Shaojia shook his head. "If only. He always tried to best me and Tian at everything. I took a bullet, he ended up taking two. Tian nearly found out whether or not demons could get drunk, he nearly killed himself with alcohol poisoning. I was nearly killed trying to hold back an ambush from Russian mercs during the Second Cold War in R-7." Shaojia took a sad sigh. "He was. We were nearly scot-free when a Russian behind me tried to shoot me in the back. Kaifeng saved my life, at the cost of his. Even to this day, I still partly blame myself for it, but ripping that murderous bastard's spine through his back took away most of the blame."

Jimmy looked at Shaojia before looking back at the picture. This was the first time that Shaojia actually expressed grief. Come to think about it, this was the first time he opened up emotionally period. He then looked closer at the picture. Before his very eyes, he saw himself replacing Shaojia, Sheen replacing General Tian, Carl replacing Paosung, and Cindy replacing Kaifeng. A fear struck through his heart as he saw Carl's face disappear, then Sheen's, and finally Cindy's.

"I won't let that happen," Jimmy muttered absentmindedly as he handed the photo back to Shaojia. Shaojia raised an eyebrow but made no comment.

"Let's get back to business," Shaojia said as he looked again at the blueprints of Jimmy's armor. "Paosung said that it'd end up in the matter generators by noon today. Now, are you sure that these can hold off any surprises the Yolkians may try to send at us?"

Jimmy nodded proudly. "Absolutely! With this new armor, my soldiers are virtually untouchable."

Shaojia nodded. "So, I guess I should be making my way back to the frontlines again."

"Definitely," Jimmy agreed. "I'm still too inexperience at this whole general business, but I'm getting the hang of it. But right now, this still risks people's lives at stake, and I don't want that burden hanging over me for the rest of my life. As much as I hate to say this, I still need guidance."

Shaojia nodded as he pushed himself off the ground. "So we move out by noon?"

"By noon," Jimmy agreed. Shaojia put on his war helmet and put on the lower abdomen armor that had been taken off for the surgery. Instantly, he began to sway and collapsed to his knee. Jimmy helped him back down to his mat. "You better rest. Those wounds are still too serious. I'll go brief the troops. With luck, I think I'll be able to take care of that spy satellite problem, too."

Shaojia nodded as Jimmy left the tent. As soon as the scientist left, Shaojia stood right back up, completely fine. He cracked his back a little and stretched a bit. Then, he said, "Guidance? Jimmy, my boy, you don't need guidance anymore. All you need is to win this war."

* * *

Cindy, Meiling, and General Tian all surveyed the troops that marched around for inspection from the stage in the middle of the Yolkian city which was once used for concerts and the like, telling from the giant courtyard anyways. They had been doing that for roughly 30 minutes, and it had gotten old fast. So, while General Tian did all the inspection, Cindy and Meiling talked to each other about the current situation.

"I still don't know why he wanted us out of the tent, though," Cindy said, referring to Shaojia asking General Tian to lead them out here.

"Well, that's Shaojia for you," Meiling answered wryly. "He never lets me hear anything involving wars. But I don't know why he had you leave too, though."

Cindy never had a chance to answer as she noticed Jimmy walking towards them. As soon as he neared them, Cindy instantly jumped him. "What were you two talking about?"

"I'll explain later," Jimmy said as he kept on walking and approached Tian. "General Tian. Gather the troops and tell them, in Chinese, that what I am about to say is just to trick the enemy. They have satellites somewhere in orbit, and they might be monitoring everything."

General Tian understood and carried out the order. Cindy, who along with Meiling had heard every bit of that, asked, "What's going on here, Neutron?"

"I'll explain later," he repeated. "Hey, where are our troops?"

She pointed over to a courtyard in the distance. "Libby and Sheen were going to supervise their daily training. Why?"

"No reason," Jimmy answered. Then, as soon as General Tian finished addressing the soldiers, who were now all gathered around in their formations in the giant courtyard that was more than large enough, considering it was built to hold about at least 150,000-300,000 Yolkians, the town's estimated range of population by his calculations.

General Tian approached Jimmy and whispered, "They're all in on the ruse, sir. Carry on."

Jimmy nodded and approached the microphone in the middle of the stage and put on his best acting face. "I am sorry to say that General Wang Shaojia has passed away today of injuries sustained from yesterday." There were several wails of mourning, some realistic enough, some overly-exaggerated and equivalent of that made by a bad actor. Luckily, there were few of the latter. "In a last request, he asked that all of you fight vigilantly. We march at noon today. Dismissed!" With that, the crowd dispersed, some in the realistic, stunned fashion, some just hamming it up and pretending to bawl on the streets for their 'deceased' commander. It seemed as if the only thing that W-12 soldiers weren't good at was acting.

"Well played, sir," General Tian commented quietly.

"Thanks," Jimmy said as he took a glance at the sky, immediately spotting what he wanted to see. In the green Yolkian morning sky flew a small, distant figure. Just by looking at the basic designs he could see, a cylinder with two solar panels sticking out of its sides, he knew it was a satellite. General Tian followed his glance. "See that satellite?" General Tian made a subtle nod. "Can we find a way to take it out?"

General Tian nodded. "I can arrange for an asteroid to rough it up a bit." At Jimmy's confused look, he reiterated, "I'll have one of the ships use the tractor beam to launch an asteroid at it." Jimmy nodded in understanding.

"Good. After you destroy it, scan the entire area we have to cross to get to the capitol building and see if there are anymore spy probes. Tell me all of the details when it's all done," Jimmy ordered.

General Tian saluted. "Yes sir!"

Meanwhile, the girls continued to gossip, this time about a certain boy genius. "Wow, Jimmy's really come a long way since this whole thing started," Cindy muttered as she looked at Jimmy. She didn't know if it was just her head or the way the morning sun seemed to hit him, but Jimmy was glowing an unnatural light, his developing muscles showing in the small rips and tears in his uniform that were actually pretty unnoticeable. She didn't even notice the slight drool that was seeping out of her mouth.

Meiling waved a hand in front of Cindy's face and snapped her fingers. "Whoa, no day dreams right now, Cindy, save it for later."

Cindy shook her head to clear her thoughts which had gotten very, very odd all of a sudden. "Ugh, let's go check on how Libby and Sheen are doing."

* * *

Libby stood closely beside Sheen as he watched the 25 soldiers of the N-12 Army, plus Nick and Butch making it 27, do their daily training routines. As of right now, they were doing jumping jacks, 50 of them to be exact. "30! 31! 32!" And so on, they would yell as they performed the exercise.

"Libby! Sheen!" The two turned their heads towards the direction of the voice that called for them. It was none other than Cindy with Meiling trailing after her.

"Cindy!" Libby yelled back, waving her hand as she went to greet her best friend. Sheen just did what he usually did on those meetings. Daydream about him being Ultralord.

Before the two could embrace though, an explosion was heard overhead. Everyone looked up and saw shrapnel rain down from an object very high in the atmosphere, along with what seemed to be bits of flaming rocks. "What was that?" Meiling asked no one in particular as the explosion created a small fireworks display, arcing this way and that in intricate shapes.

* * *

"W-What?!" King Goobot asked his brother.

"Er, an asteroid struck one of our satellites, sire," Ooblar repeated as he watched his brother pace back and forth in his throne room.

"How is that even possible?!" he asked incredulously as he stepped out onto the balcony overlooking his capitol. "Why have you forsaken us, Lord Poultra?!"

"Settle down, sire, settle down," Ooblar tried to coax as he steered his elder brother by the shoulders back to his throne before he did anything, er... drastic. "I'll send for your chief advisor. Maybe all three of us can find a reasonable solution to this. After all, an asteroid had never struck one of the satellites before. Well, except for that time 10 years ago when we had that small incursion with the Milktons."

Goobot snapped his fingers. "That's it! That Enforcer general had fallen on the battlefield, I saw it with my very eyes, but they loaded him onto a stretcher. Maybe he's alive and Neutron wants to keep us from knowing this! Don't send for the advisor. Get me a messenger! I want Calamitous to drop everything he's doing and with the help of all scientists in this palace, create a massive army of those robots he makes to stop Neutron at once with as many Yolktars we can spare!"

Ooblar took a step backwards at the bold request before smirking. "Oh, at once sire!"

* * *

It had been an hour since either of them had the time to check on the injured general. Now, they bore good news. Jimmy was approaching Shaojia's tent followed by General Tian when he heard the sound of Chinese music. The two generals looked at each other and shrugged. As they walked towards Shaojia's tent, the music grew louder, even though it was a soft, dramatic melody.

Upon entering, they saw that Shaojia was sitting in his medical tent, his back propped up against his pillow. In his lap was the Chinese instrument the guqin, a classical instrument often attributed to the high-ranked or intelligent, sometimes both since those were the only classes in Imperial China that could usually afford them. And from Jimmy's well-rounded knowledge of most country histories and General Tian's familiarity of the song, they both could tell that the song was Tao Yuan, or Peach Garden in English, a calming and rhythmic song popular in the Imperial Court and other such circles.

Shaojia looked up at the two of them with a slightly drunken look and slurred, "Ah, generals! What news do you have?"

Jimmy and General Tian looked at each other before stepping to either side of Shaojia. "Shaojia, are you drunk? I thought you said that you couldn't be?"

Shaojia looked at Jimmy in a dazed fashion before looking at the IV. "I think it's the morphine. Too much of it."

"I'll go get a medic and see if we can get you off of that." Tian said before he left the tent.

"Nice song," Jimmy commented after a minute had passed by. "Well, no telling when he'll get back. Let's get onto business."

Shaojia nodded as he struggled to put aside the heavy instrument. "What've you got, Jim?"

Jimmy relayed everything he knew. "I gave a speech earlier today telling your men that you were dead. It was a show, though, and they all knew it too. However, I don't think the League of Villains could possibly have known since I had General Tian tell them in Chinese. Afterwards, I secretly had General Tian have the satellite monitoring our area destroyed. Now, the League of Villains might be just a tiny bit suspicious, but I think that we have them fooled into thinking that you're dead. We can probably take a few more Rings before they discover us."

Shaojia nodded as he rubbed his chin, microscopic and barely existent chin hairs starting to grow. "Good..." he said as he looked at the IV. "Medics've done enough for me; why waste medicine when I'm perfectly fine?" With that said, he yanked out the IV tip from his arm and stood up with a struggle before firmly planting his feet onto the ground. "I'm anxious to get back to the lines."

"Are you sure that you're okay?" Jimmy asked as Shaojia began to sway. He grabbed the other's arm and helped him right himself.

Shaojia nodded. "Of course."

Jimmy sighed as he nodded. "Alright, I guess if you think you're fit enough to fight. However, so that we don't arouse any more suspicion, I only destroyed the one covering the Outer Rings, as the locals call it. There are still one's in the Middle Ring and the Inner Ring."

Shaojia nodded as he began to regain his senses. "How many more Rings until we hit the Middle Rings?"

"About 10 more Rings," Jimmy answered as General Tian entered the tent.

"The head medic said that you were clear," Tian said, noticing that Shaojia had already taken off the IV. "I guess you went ahead and did it anyways." With a sigh, he muttered, "One of these days, you're gonna' end up being Ol' Wang."

Shaojia chuckled as he gave Tian a playful punch to the arm. "If you don't quit trying to joke around, I'll make you Ol' Tian." But assuming a more serious face, he said, "But seriously, leave the jokes to Paosung-si di." (Youngest brother Paosung)

Tian simply chuckled back as he looked over at Jimmy. "General, have you told him about-"

Jimmy cut him off with a nod. "Yes he knows, and he'll be joining us at noon when we march out."

" Noon?" Shaojia asked as he stretched a bit. "That's right, that's when your armor'll be ready. But why can't we just move out now and pick up the armor when it's finished? The more ground we cover, the less ground the enemy can cover."

"Then what about my men?" Jimmy asked as they stepped out of the tent. "We can't just expect them to stay here. They'll probably go against my orders and come along anyways. Most of them are hard-headed and stupid enough."

Shaojia nodded as he looked at the sun. It was about 8 o'clock, oh-8-hundred in military lingo. "Well, the retaliation force will be here soon. There are about 4 hours until noon. If we don't leave now, the road ahead will be harder. What do you think you should do with your men?"

Jimmy thought for a second and looked around. "I think we should have a platoon of your men stay here. Make sure it's the one that had taken the most casualties besides the platoon that went with us. I'll have my men stay here too until they get their armor. Then, I want them to ride here on those landing shuttles. After they're dropped off, I want the shuttles to give as much air-support as they can before heading back here. I'll improvise from there, I guess. I say we leave in an hour."

"Good job," Shaojia said as he put a hand on Jimmy's shoulder. "You'll do fine. Now get going." Jimmy nodded and marched off.

"So he's the one, huh?" General Tian asked as he crossed his arms and watched Jimmy leave. "The one from those old geezers' prophecies and what not?"

Shaojia nodded. "They seem to think so."

"I still don't believe in that crap. Just a coincidence."

"I think you better start believing, then."

* * *

Jimmy marched down the green dirt roads of Fort Divine Justice. After he had to say it a few times, he had to admit that it had a certain ring to it. He shoved that thought aside as he began to near the training area of his troops after roughly 5 minutes of walking, albeit at a swift pace.

He smiled as he passed his fellow Retrovillians. It seemed as if the training grounds were a popular hangout now for the non-military Retrovillians. He waved back at the kids that knew him from school, or from around town in general. He knew most, if not all of them. Chase Knowlen, the police chief's brother's wife's nephew, that kid who was always worked as a library aide, then there was that kid who always sat by the entrance to the Girl's Restroom in the Candy Bar, and then there was Bolbi... who appeared to be eating a lamb-kabob again.

He noticed that they were much nicer and more respectful to him now that he was a military officer. A general to be exact. He looked down at his red, tattered, dirty military uniform that showed parts of his chest and abdomen. He also saw the large gap that was made when that Yolktar tried to break his bones. He then covertly felt the scar next to his eye that he would have oh so much fun explaining to Mom and Dad.

He sighed inwardly as he began to near the training grounds. He knew that they all respected him because this time, he wasn't at fault for having their parents captured, although it was kind of his fault since that was the case first time. He knew that it was because of his uniform and rank that they respected him, some out of obligation, and others out of sincere respect of his cause. Some of the younger kids even addressed him as 'Mr. Neutron' now, like Bolbi's little sister, Elga, who just passed him. Now that just made him feel old.

And that's when he remembered that he was only 12-year-old Jimmy Neutron, boy genius with a girlfriend that loves to argue with him, a friend with so many odd medical ailments that he was sure that it could pay a doctor's own kids through medical school five times over, a friend with so many psychological ailments that a shrink would be tempted to commit suicide after one session, and finally a sane friend that goes crazy when overly worried. Yeah, looking back, Jimmy liked military life a bit better.

He was snapped out of his ruminations by Cindy's voice calling for him from the training ground, steadily growing closer as she, Libby, and Meiling came towards him. "You won't believe how advanced our soldiers have become!" she said excitedly as she watched the soldiers train with the qiang.

Jimmy nodded and looked at Libby before realizing what he had to do. Well, he chose military life, and that meant having a job to do. He just needed to get some privacy first. He turned to Meiling and said, "I thought that you'd like to know that Shaojia's up and about now. The medics just discharged him." And with that, Meiling was gone, a mere speck running towards the medical camp with a blink of an eye. Okay, not really, but close enough.

Now for Cindy. She was still urging Jimmy to see their troops. "Come on, you just have to see what that fabled Enforcer training can actually do."

Jimmy smiled a fake smile at Cindy and said, "I'll check later, but can you go help Sheen keep control over them? They all respect you more than they do him." Cindy nodded and left to help contain the situation. Looking to Libby, he sighed sadly, "This isn't going to be pleasant."

"What is it?" Libby asked as she leaned next to a nearby porch.

Jimmy looked down and said, "Shaojia and I decided that we'll be leaving earlier than we thought we would."

Libby picked up on the hidden message. "Sheen's being shipped out again?"

Jimmy stood there for a second before shaking his head. "Nick, Butch, Sheen, and Cindy have fought well these past few days and I want to promote them all to the rank of general. Now, this is the plan Shaojia and I have agreed on. His entire force except for a single platoon and the wounded will march off for battle in about 30 minutes from now. Meanwhile, our soldiers will stay here until noon because that's when the new armor I had CelestiCorp to make for us will be finished. Then, they'll be taken to where the main force is. By then, we would have already weakened them and with the air support, we can make them retreat so we can regroup."

"But will Sheen be the first to fight with Shaojia's force or will he stay behind?" Libby asked.

Jimmy shrugged. "That's up to you. I've already decided that Nick and Butch will stay here and help coordinate everything with you. They'll leave with our forces at noon. Cindy and I will be at the front with Shaojia and his men."

Libby sighed as she slumped down a bit. "I don't know. I'd be fine with Sheen fighting off in a war if I was there to make sure he was alright. But I am a devout Christian, and I just can't stand killing. I can be violent, but I'll take it to the limit and stop there. Alien or not, Yolkians are still alive, and I just can't get comfortable killing them. The battlefield's too crazy, and I can't help but worry about Sheen or my little bro that's going to go in there too." She shot a worried look over at Sheen and where her brother was training.

"Don't worry, Libby," Jimmy coaxed. "My armor design is basically Yolktar proof, and they're all we have to fight now. You're welcome to join the fight, too, but I recommend that you wear the armor. So what do you say, Libby? Do you want Sheen to be a part of the main force, or do you want to keep him here?"

Libby pondered this for a few seconds. "I'll let him go off with you guys, but Jimmy, please... Make sure he's alright."

Jimmy nodded. "What're friends for?" As Libby rose and walked off a bit sadly, he bowed his head and sighed. On second thought, military life sucked.

* * *

Cindy took another glance at Jimmy and Libby. It was obvious that Sheen wasn't the reason Jimmy wanted her to come over here. Well, for the most part. In the past 20 seconds, he had nearly fallen off of the small stage they were standing on, cut his head off with the dao that he thought was an orchestrator's baton, and was one annoying statement away from making Cindy kill him herself. Even now, she could hear him yelling, "Alright! Get the tubas! Now march in a circle! March!" She assumed that he got hit on the head in one of the many battles they had to get to this point. Or it could have been when he was younger.

In any case, at least the 27-soldier army of N-12 knew Sheen well enough to respect him for his rank and to disregard all things that come out of his mouth. Right now, they were all doing push-ups on their own, 30 being the goal. So far, Nick was the leader with 25, followed closely by Butch.

She refocused her attention on Jimmy and Libby. 'No, he must have something important to talk about to Libby.' She saw Libby shoot a worried look over at her. Wait, no, she was looking at Sheen, who was now humming The 1812 Overture loudly and very off-key. Cindy mentally hit herself for not realizing sooner. 'Duh, we'll be moving out again. Poor Libs, being so stressed out like this.' She then spotted, somewhere in the middle of the training army, Libby's little brother, Thomas. Now that made things worse...

Cindy inwardly sighed as she looked over at Libby, who now looked more like her old self than the unkempt, malnourished, ghost of a woman she was yesterday, when she had no idea if Sheen was even alive. Now, they'd be heading out again, and Libby's brother was joining them, she bet. And seeing Shaojia's previous condition wasn't much of a soothing sight either.

She shook her head as she saw Jimmy leave Libby and walk over towards them while Libby simply walked away while staring at the light green Yolkian sky reflectively. "So what did you guys talk about?" she asked him even though she had a very good guess.

Jimmy sighed, deciding that he might as well come clean. Cindy was rumored to have the best lip-syncing ability in town. Or was that Carl? Well, someone had that ability mastered, and he was pretty sure it was Cindy. Or maybe it was Carl, he wasn't sure. Great, now he was rambling to himself...

"We're moving out again, and I know Libby's going to be a nervous wreck if one of us doesn't confront her about it," Jimmy said as he watched Libby go back to the estate. "I don't think I helped too much. I think you should talk to her before we move out in about 25 minutes."

"That soon?" Cindy asked as she looked at Libby's sad pace.

Jimmy nodded. "If we delay anymore, the Yolkian forces will take more ground that we need to cross."

Cindy nodded, understanding the situation but still not entirely happy about it. "Fine. So I'll meet you where?"

"At the gate leading out," Jimmy said as he looked over at Sheen who was now singing the theme song to Ultra-Lord. "I'll go brief the troops." Cindy nodded and left to console Libby while Jimmy went to inform his men of the goings-on. Oh, and to keep Sheen from accidentally impaling himself on his dao.

* * *

Shaojia rubbed his temple as the remaining 15 soldiers of the 74th Gansu kowtowed repetitively. And this was what they were crying pitifully about. "Forgive us, Your Majesty! We, the inferior soldiers, did not mean to leave you for dead! Forgive us!" Well, at least this was a bit necessary, but not so much that it had to go on for about half an hour.

General Tian, who was trapped in the center of the bowing circle with Shaojia, mirrored Shaojia's movement. "I see why you hate it."

Shaojia shot Tian an annoyed look. "Oh, NOW you know?"

Before Tian could reply, several medics and orderlies tried to drag the injured and battered soldiers back into their tents to rest. The head medic walked up to him and said, "Sir, forgive the perceivable rudeness of the next remark, but you still shouldn't be up and about in your current state. You still need rest, those stitches won't hold for long and you could bleed out."

Shaojia simply brushed the medic's caution aside. "No worries. I'm fine. These men here still need treatment, so get to it. Half of them look like they could drop any minute now." He motioned towards a soldier who had a medic shoving him to his tent. Before he even got into the tent, he broke out into a coughing fit, hacking up black blood.

The head medic stood there hesitantly before nodding. "My apologies, sir. I suppose that you have made a rather quick and full recovery."

Shaojia nodded and walked away from the medical camp, General Tian following closely behind him. Tian put a hand on Shaojia's shoulder and stopped him. "Da ge!" (Eldest Brother!)

Shaojia immediately stopped. Though there was no fancy sworn brother ritual, Paosung, Kaifeng, Quanbei, and himself always considered themselves brothers, even more so when Kaifeng died. But only Paosung ever addressed Shaojia with the proper title. Quanbei had always called him friend.

"Is something wrong?" Shaojia asked.

Tian Quanbei hesitated before nodding. "I can still remember the incense from Kaifeng-di's funeral. I don't want to have to remember the incense at yours. You shouldn't overexert yourself like this. How about you relax, and join us when General Neutron's armor designs are completed and his men are shipped off?"

Shaojia shook his head. "As much as Jimmy has learned, he still has a long, long way to go. It was my original objective, given by the Jade Emperor Himself, to make sure he is kept alive. And I intend to make sure he's alive personally."

General Tian sighed as Shaojia began to walk again. Neither of them could notice Meiling running towards them. "Alright, but you still shouldn't bother yourself like this. That wound could open up anytime, and with you on the battlefield, it can't possibly be helping the healing process."

Shaojia finally stopped and put both hands on Quanbei's shoulders and shook his 'little brother' slightly. "Quanbei er-di." (Second Brother Quanbei.) "Don't worry so much. I'll be fine. Now, round up the men at the gate and prepare to move out."

Reluctantly, Quanbei nodded and walked off, just in time for Meiling to come into sight. As soon as Quanbei cleared the area, Shaojia was caught in a tight embrace from none other than a certain Chinese orphan girl. Meiling couldn't think of any words to say to him as she settled for burying her head into Shaojia's still battered and bloody armor.

They stood like that for a few seconds before Meiling finally said, though weakly, "Are you going out to battle again?"

Shaojia nodded. "Soon."

"Can..." Meiling looked up hopefully into Shaojia's helmeted face which glared back at her with a disapproving look. "Please, you've taught me to fight! I can hold my own!"

Shaojia took off his helmet roughly and said roughly, "Look at what happened to me! And I had armor on! You're in a dress with some armor over it. I don't even want to think what will happen to you!"

Meiling's eyes began to cloud over with tears as she withstood Shaojia's unintentionally harsh reply. "I just want to help!"

Shaojia threw his helmet to the ground as he grinded his teeth, his back turned away from Meiling. In a much softer tone, he said, "And I just want to keep you safe. If it was up to me, I'd have Neutron and all of his friends stay here, where there's no way they can get killed. Neutron's going to play a big role in things to come, but not even the Gods know what will happen. But that's my mission. I want you safe because I care for you."

Meiling stared defiantly as Shaojia's back. "Then if you truly care for me, you'll let me go to battle with you, and if need be, let me die with you."

Shaojia stared at his fallen helmet for a while. Seconds turned to minutes, and he could see platoons rushing towards where the gate leading out was. Finally, he picked up the helmet and said, "Go back to the estate."

Meiling's heart dropped as she looked down. "Okay," she whispered as she tried to keep back the tears.

Shaojia put on his helmet and turned around to face Meiling. "There's a matter generator next to the house. Get yourself some better armor and a better weapon than those damn fans. I'll meet you at the gate."

Meiling immediately looked up and beamed at Shaojia before embracing him again. She stepped back, opened her mouth to thank him, but thought better of it and ran off and do as she was told. Shaojia simply smiled at her as her figured shrunk until she disappeared into the sea of rushing armor that clamored all over the place.

He suddenly felt an odd pressure in his chest and something pushing up out of his throat. Making sure that no one was looking, he fell to one knee and fell into a coughing fit. After he was done, he stared at the pool of black-colored blood that was slowly seeping into the ground. He cursed before getting up to change into newer armor.

* * *

"Libby?" Cindy asked from outside of her friend's bedroom door. Mayor Nravalok, upon learning that his son had been spared from Shaojia's wrath, was all too happy to repay all of them and allow them lodgings in all of his guest rooms. "Libby, it's me, Cindy."

There was no answer so Cindy simply entered on her own. There she found Libby curled in a ball asleep, a few tissues surrounding her, tear stains around her cheeks. She sighed and sat on her friend's matress. That shook her awake. "Ugh, Cindy?"

Cindy smiled as Libby rubbed her eyes and tried to sit up. "I thought that you might want a little help." She looked at the floor and sighed. "I can't possibly know how hard it is for you to have your little brother and Sheen off to battle. But the thing is, Thomas won't be leaving until noon. And I know that Jimmy will help me make sure Sheen doesn't get himself killed, along with everyone else, alright?"

Libby nodded. "I know. Jimmy gave me choice about whether or not Sheen goes now or if he goes with me and everyone else."

"Wait a second," Cindy interrupted. "You're going too?"

Libby nodded. "I can help to be a medic or something. I just want to make sure Sheen's safe, too."

Cindy shook her head as she hugged her best friend. "If you're sure." She then flopped down onto the mattress, Libby following suit. "You know, I remember when we used to do this at your house, talking about our favorite bands, how Ms. Fowl always gave us that stupid crossword to do over Winter Holiday-"

"-how we always made fun of Sheen and Jimmy even though we both already know how much we care for them, but didn't want anyone else to know, not even ourselves." Libby looked critically at Cindy, who blushed and looked away. "You already confessed to him, but you still won't admit it to anyone else?! For shame, girl."

Cindy smiled as she brought herself to look back at Libby. "That's the Libby I know."

Libby smiled until a knock on the door was heard. "Who is it?" she called out as she stood up.

"Private Folfax, sis," said someone on the other side of the door. "General Estevez wants to see you outside."

"General Estevez?" Libby asked as she went up to open the door for her little brother. "Last time I checked, he was only a major."

"General Neutron promoted him, Nick, and that kid with the slack jaw earlier," Thomas explained. Then he fished for something in his pocket. He then gave a small red box to Cindy. "General Neutron wanted me to give this to you."

Cindy accepted the box from Thomas and opened it. Inside was a gold Neutron symbol with 5 little electrons circling the electron cloud outside of the nucleus. She removed the medal from the box and read the little note underneath it.

_"Cindy,_

_It wouldn't be fair if I didn't promote you to. In fact, you're the first person I wanted to promote, but Libby had to come first. I had this in mind for a while, though. You've fought hard this entire war and in previous times we had to fight our way out of trouble. You don't deserve to be a colonel anymore. Congratulations, General Vortex. I'll mee you at the gate after you're finished with Libby._

_Love,  
Jimmy."_

She whispered the last two words silently to herself and attatched the insignia to her dirty military uniform. Immediately after she did so, Thomas did a mock-salute. "General Neutron wants to see you at the gates as quickly as possible, General."

Cindy smiled and looked at Libby who smiled back. The two nodded and got up to follow Thomas out.

* * *

'Ultra-Lord, Ultra-Lord, fighting evil with his Ultra-Sword. He fights crime, all the time, he don't need rest, 'cause he's the best. Look out! Here comes the Ultra-Lord!' Sheen sang in his head as he waited outside for his Libby-pie to come out. Jimmy had just promoted him to Major General, whatever that meant, but he guessed it was like a high rank or something. Oh well, nothing was of higher rank than being an Ultra-Soldier. He's been in the Ultra-Lord fan club for almost his entire life and was already an Ultra-General.

Footsteps from inside the estate caught Sheen's attention. He looked throught the open doorway and saw Libby's little brother Tommy... Thompson? Terrance, no... Ah, who cared, it began with a T. Anyways, T-kid was leading his Libby-waffles downstairs along with She-Devil, Jimmy's girlfriend. Oh wait, that's Cindy. He had to get used to that.

"Libby-muffin!" Sheen yelled as he ran to embrace Libby, almost tripping on the new cape he got for his new rank. Like the rest of his armor, it was a bright purple.

Libby blushed slightly while Thomas and Cindy tried to stifle their laughs, failing quite indefinitely. "We'll leave you two love birds alone," Cindy giggled, pulling Thomas aside and walking towards the gate.

Libby rolled her eyes at the two before looking over at Sheen, who's shoulders had broadened considerably, giving him a more muscular look. She smiled as she walked over to him. "So what did you want to talk to me about?"

Sheen adopted a tough guy accent and said, "Libs, I'm gonna' have to go off to battle again. And I don't know how long it'll be until I get to see you again. Maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow, maybe not-"

"Sheen," Libby interrupted. "I'm going to battle along with everyone else later today once Jimmy'y armor's done."

"Wh-what?" Sheen asked, his shoulders drooping and his eyebrows arched in confusion under his Ultra-Lord helmet. "But you can't!" In an instant, he was right next to Libby, holding her hands in his. "You'll hurt your pretty, delicate hands."

Libby smiled and took her hands out of Sheen's. "I'll be fine, Sheen. Just get going. I'll see you again soon."

Sheen shook his head. "I want to give you this first." He pulled out from a small pocket in his Ultra-Lord utility belt a small little box. "I got this for you from those generator thingys."

Libby looked at the box which was tied with a purple bow, her favorite color. With a tentative finger she opened the box and took out a small necklace with a purple gem embedded in it. "It's beautiful..."

Sheen smiled. "Jimmy told me how worried you were. I thought I'd get you something like this since there aren't any Ultra-Lord stores around here." At Libby's look, he smiled. "Hey, I'm just kidding. It's a promise necklace. My grandma had one of these. She said my grandpa gave it to her before he went to fight in the Vietnam War."

Libby smiled as she clasped the necklace in her hand. "I love it, Sheen." She moved to put it on, but Sheen stopped her and put it around her necklace himself.

Sheen held Libby's hands again. "I'm no good with the mushy stuff, but my dad always told me to talk from the heart." Taking a deep breath, he said, "Well, here goes. Libby, I love you. But this war's too dangerous for our love!"

"Don't ham it up," Libby said as she pinched him slightly on the arm.

Sheen nodded. "Right. Well, anyways, neither of us knows what'll happen in the future. But I guess that necklace is my promise to you that whatever happens, we'll still be together."

Libby smiled and pulled Sheen in for a kiss. After they parted, she muttered, "Sheen, I think that is the smartest thing that you have ever said in your entire life."

* * *

Jimmy grasped his electroaxe tightly in his hand as he stood at the front of the 11,000 or so Enforcers left. With him was General Tian. Both of the two generals were waiting for Shaojia, Cindy, and Sheen to arrive. Jimmy had already ordered his 27-soldier Enforcer division to stay behind, with the new brigadier generals Nick Dean and Butch Pakovski in charge.

Suddenly, two large groups of Enforcers stepped to the side and kneeling kowtowed as a figure walked in between the groups. "Is that Shaojia?" Jimmy asked, the Yolkian sun keeping him from seeing accurately, the figure just a human-shaped blur.

General Tian shrugged, but as the figure came closer, he saw that it was- "Lady Meiling?" he muttered before yelling out to the girl, "Milady! What are you doing here? You know that General Wang would never allow you to come along."

"Well he didn't," Meiling said as she walked up to them. She was wearing fuller armor than before, and now weilded a pair of Chinese hook swords, a very difficult weapon to learn. Their name was self-explanatory, two swords with hooks at the tips of the blades along with a hilt guard on each weapon. "In fact, he said I could come."

General Tian looked at Meiling in disbelief along with Jimmy, who had known Shaojia long enough to know that he wasn't one to allow Meiling onto the field of battle. "You're kidding me," Tian muttered as he looked up into the blazing Yolkian sun. "Looks like the morphine might've been too strong."

"For you information, Quanbei, I feel fine." Everyone turned towards the direction of the voice. Soldiers kowtowed left and right as Shaojia stepped through the ranks, a new set of armor adorned on him along with a new, crimson war cape. He stopped directly in front of Meiling and commented, "Nice hook swords. I hope you remember how to use them."

"Well I did learn from you," Meiling replied, smiling back.

Jimmy leaned over to remark quietly to Tian, "I think we missed something good." Tian could only nod back.

Shaojia then turned to Jimmy. "Where's your girlfriend, then? I thought Colonel Vortex was with you."

"That's General Vortex, now," Cindy said as she stepped from out of the columns of soldiers, Sheen following closely behind her.

Shaojia rolled his eyes and muttered lowly to himself, "What is this, the reunion sequence in a crappy war movie?" He shook his head and asked Jimmy, "Alright, are we about set to go? Maybe it is the morphine, but I got a bad feeling that something's waiting for us again."

"It's probably the morphine," Jimmy said. "We're all set. Let's go."

Shaojia nodded and drew his jian. Immediately, several soldiers walked up to them holding 7 horses by the reins, one horse for each of the present generals, Tian Shaojia, Jimmy, Cindy, Meiling, Sheen, and Brigadier General Hong, who had been standing off to the side the entire time. Shaojia climbed into the saddle of one of the horses and explained, "We've already wasted enough time, and we need to cover as much land as possible. So pick a horse and saddle up. Besides, a lot of my men kind of need the excercise." All of the generals nodded and climbed onto their steeds. "Alright, move out in Winding Dragon Formation!" he yelled as he lifted his jian, the sunlight glinting off of it. The other followed suit with their own preferred weapons.

With that, Shaojia urged his horse forward, with Meiling following behind him. Jimmy, Cindy, and Sheen shot off after them while Tian and Hong carried the rear. After their generals had cleared the gates, all of the soldiers made several thinner formations, 10 men across, 20 men deep. Formation after formation ran after their leaders, creating a snake-like visage. At last, the Enforcers were on the move again.

* * *

Professor Calamitous ignored the sights below him as he jetted across the Yolkian surface, followed closely by his 1,000 or so robots which the Yolkian scientists had helped him build, along with the 100,000 Yolktar army Goobot had 'lent' him. It had taken them several hours to create enough robots, but it was good enough. Now, 11 o'clock Earth time, he could see a sign reading, "You are now leaving the Middle Rings."

Though he had no idea what that meant, all that he needed to know was that he was getting closer and closer to his nemisis. How generous it was of Goobot to let him have the glory of ridding them all of the nuisance. And after he dealt with Neutron, Calamitous had some plans of his own on what was to become of his... business partners.

He drew his Plasma Blade. Always a fan of Japanese weaponry, he had equipped himself and his robot army with his latest weapon, a katana-like sword, the blade of which was charged to the maximum with negatively charged ions which in turn would generate super-hot plasma, turning the cold sheet of metal into a blazing weapon of devastation. Upon contact with flesh or armor, it would not only cut the enemy, but burn through it, allowing a simple accidental swing to cause someone to lose a limb. Or a head.

Propping his Plasma Blade in front of his robot suit's eyes, he thrust it forward, urging his legion onwards. A battle was imminent, that was certain. The only uncertainty is who would come out alive.

* * *

**The Afterthought:**

****

(We are outside of a hospital. With us are Jimmy and Cindy)

Jimmy: Hello again and welcome to another The Afterthought.

Cindy: Right now, we're standing outside of Shaojia and Author's hospital room, seeing as they nearly killed themselves last time around.

Jimmy: Actually, Author nearly killed both of them. Shaojia was just at the wrong place at the wrong time.

(There's a flash of lightning behind them)

Author: Boo!

(Jimmy and Cindy jump ten feet into the air, hitting the ceiling)

Jimmy: Don't do that!

Cindy: (Punches Author) Got it?

Author: (Rubs arm) You're not the boss of me!

Jimmy: Hey, how'd you get out anyways?

Author: (Wiggles fingers) I'm magic! Oooooooh!

Audience member: Get on with the reviews! Reviews! Reviews! Reviews!

Author: (Fires machine gun into audience) My show! My timing! My water wings!

Shaojia: (Hits Author with crutch) Shaddup!

Cindy: Oh good, you're alive.

Jimmy: (Shakes head and sighs) Well, let's get onto the reviews then. First one is from kitty32192:

_VACATION! WHE! im a crazy person! yells to imaginary friend YES I AM! DEAL WITH IT! kills imaginary friend_

Cindy: Is there any chance that she and Author are related?

Jimmy: It'd be too scary to imagine. Next one is from acosta perez jose ramiro:

_Hi! Sorry hadn't reviewed... but really, hadn't seen this story in a while, and I check out the site almost daily! You changed this to another cathegory for a while or something?_

Anyway, excellent job with all the characters. Very good action scenes.

Keep the good writing.

Emily: (Appears in lightning bolt) Allow me to take this one. Well, I don't think Big Bro changed it, except for maybe he rating because it wasn't exactly M-rated material, it just kinda looked like that because of all the violence. And thanks for the nice words!

Cindy: And finally, Cherri-Star. Because the reviews were glitched and we couldn't get the full idea, we're going to thank you anyways for making an effort to review.

Jimmy: (Looks around cautiously) Alright, Author's still unconscious, so I guess we can end this without him killing himself... again.

(Zooms out to the top of the hospital. Author is standing on the hospital roof)

Author: Spiderman, Spiderman, swinging around like a spider can!

(Author tries to web-sling off the roof. And falls 5 stories down. We zoom back to where the others are)

Jimmy: How could I not see that one coming?

Ninja-Dude: BECAUSE YOU'RE STUPID!!!


	19. The Mini Boss Part 1

**Chapter 19**

**The Mini-Boss (Part 1)**

**(Subtitles Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

**_SOUND EFFECTS_**

* * *

_"If I had a penny for every good invention made by CelestiCorp, by the end of the year, I'd barely have a dime." Li Paosung, W-12 Grand Department Minister of Shelter, Warfare, Central Intelligence, and Registration_

* * *

Jimmy rode his horse alongside Shaojia's. In the couple of hours they had rode, Jimmy was able to catch up to Shaojia who had shot out ahead of the group. Behind him were Cindy and Meiling, with General Tian, Sheen, and Brigadier General Hong bringing up the rear. Behind them were the 11,500 remaining soldiers, as Shaojia had verified earlier, of their landing force out of the original 12,000. It was a shame that they had already lost 500 soldiers to the war, but it was probably that ambush by that Yolkian general that took out so many. 

"You got a plan?" Shaojia asked as the two rode on. Ahead they could see the dreaded Yolkian Research Facility and Military base, where over 20 soldiers had died and where Shaojia nearly met his own death. "If there are still some of those Mutants, I don't want them trying to ambush us."

Jimmy nodded. "You've got a point," he said as they began to close in on the facility. The fires had long died out. The entire base was now a smoldering ruin, a literal skeleton of its former self. "But if there were any of those things left, wouldn't they have come after us last night?"

Shaojia nodded. "I suppose." He then held up his hand as he brought his horse to a halt. "Halt!" Immediately, everyone stopped in their tracks so that they didn't run into the person in front of them.

Cindy brought her horse to saddle up next to Jimmy's. "What's wrong?" she asked the two of them.

Jimmy pointed to the smoldering remains of the military base. "That's what me and Shaojia went to destroy yesterday."

Cindy nodded as she followed Jimmy's finger to the military base that they were barely 10 yards away from. "Well, it looks like you guys did a pretty good job on it. So what's the problem?"

"Remember those Mutant Yolktars I told you about?" Jimmy asked. Cindy nodded. "Well, Shaojia and I are worried that there could be more."

"Well, they seemed pretty brain-dead to me," Cindy stated. "I don't think their smart enough to plan an ambush."

"I don't think so either," Shaojia put in. "But these are my men's lives that are on the line as well as our own. We should be careful."

Jimmy nodded as he urged his horse ahead a little bit. "Well, we have to cross this place one way or another."

Shaojia nodded. "I'll have the archers and artillery escort us. If those Mutants get within arm's length, we're done for." Yelling over his men, he did just that. "Archers! Artillerymen! Break formation and surround our battle group. We need an escort through this base. Be very alert. If you see anything move, kill it." He then snapped the reins of his horse, urging the animal on. "Alright, slow pace, we wouldn't want to rush into an ambush."

Jimmy nodded as he did the same. Meanwhile, archers ran up in front of their horses along with a few soldiers with SAWs, whom probably belonged to artillery squads. They moved forward at a half-jog to keep ahead of the generals' horses. Jimmy took an apprehensive breath as the group began to close in on the base.

Immediately, the smell of ash and soot reached Jimmy's nose as they passed what was left of the gate and walls. As the entire base was made of the extremely flammable and frail Yolkian wood, the fires had spread quickly. Not much was left standing now except for a few resilient support columns that were burned and blackened to the point of being unidentifiable.

However, out of the black surroundings, he could make out the outline of Chinese war armor like the ones worn by every W-12 soldier with them at the moment. "Look, a body!" yelled one of the archers. After getting the 'OK' from Shaojia, the archer that called out along with two others approached the body which had been burned to the bone, literally. All that was left was a skeleton. It was what was left of a victim of a Mutant Yolktar.

Jimmy grimaced as he moved his horse over next to Cindy's and covered the blonde's eyes. He didn't want her to see what the Mutant Yolktars were capable of and what his life had been threatened by. He looked over to where Shaojia was doing the same to Meiling. He nodded over to Jimmy who nodded back. Jimmy leaned over to Cindy and whispered, "Cindy, whatever you do, don't open your eyes until I tell you that we've cleared this place, alright?"

"What are you-" Cindy protested before Jimmy cut her off.

"I'm serious Cindy," Jimmy said as he watched the archers take off their helmets and bow their heads in respect and mourning for the lost soul. "It'll upset you too much. And you won't want to see it anyways. So just promise me, alright?"

Cindy frowned but nodded. "Alright."

Jimmy sighed in relief as he finally pulled away from her. Now his horse was along side Shaojia's as the entire force continued to traverse through the ruins, occasionally looking for bodies along the way. "Should we send a search team to find all of the bodies?"

Shaojia nodded. "After the war's over. The remains wouldn't get to the family members or friends until then anyways. Enforcer Regulations." Shaking his head, he said as he looked up into the green Yolkian sky. "Despite my service to the gods, I still think I'm going to go to Hell for saying this: Regulations be damned along with those that put them there."

Jimmy rose an eyebrow before quickly shaking his head. He then looked to where the entrance into the underground facility was, where they first encountered the monstrous Mutant Yolktars which was a few yards away from them. "Should we seal it in case there are more in there?"

Shaojia nodded. "Good idea." He then yelled at a SAW trooper who had a Rocket Propelled Grenade (RPG) slung over his back, "Hey you, fire a shell into that hatch there." Without hesitation, the soldier followed the direct order from the highest officer in his universe. As Shaojia had hoped, the RPG shell ripped apart the cavernous hallway leading down into the facility along with some of the ground around it. In short, it caused a cave-in, blocking whatever was in the facility from seeing the light of day.

Jimmy shrugged. "I was thinking of putting one of my force-field generators around it and sealing the thing like that, but uh... Your idea's good too."

The army continued its march through the burned down military base. When they had finally reached the exit, only 4 bodies had been recovered from the ruins. "Alright, you can open your eyes now," Jimmy said to Cindy when they finally cleared the gates leading out. Cindy did so but at Jimmy's look, decided not to ask the reason for closing them in the first place. Not now, anyways.

Shaojia rode up next to them with Meiling behind him. "Alright, enough chit-chat. We wasted enough time trying to avoid an ambush party that didn't exist." Snapping the reins of his horse, he said as his steed buck upwards. "My men can catch up later; I've already put General Tian in charge of them. We should move up ahead and cover as much ground as possible." With that, his horse shot off towards their destination, Meiling's following soon after. Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other an shrugged before following suit.

* * *

Libby took a glance at the clock as she watched Yolkian TV. So far, she had passed up two sports channels, a comedy channel, and a soaps channel. It had been an hour since the army had left the base, according to the clock. Now, at 10:20 or 10-hundred 20 hours in military speak, she was about fed up with Andromeda 90210. 

"Oh, Friddrock! You know our love can never be!"

"But Ugollack! I... love you!"

"But I... am your sister!" And cue soap opera dramatic music.

Libby made a gagging noise as she changed the channel. "5 million channels and still nothin' to watch." This time, when she changed the channel on came a cooking show.

Suddenly, her little brother Thomas bust into the living room of Ibsol's family, all of whom had gone out to enjoy the town's park. "Libs! Follow me, I think you'd really need to see this."

"What is it, T?" Libby mumbled as she remained planted firmly in the Nravalok family's couch watching Emeral Yolkgossi, as the host had introduced himself as, show the audience how to cook a traditional Yolkian Thanksgiving feast.

"There's a giant force of enemies headed towards the army!" Thomas said as he began to yank Libby out of the couch.

That last statement did all the work for him. "How do you know that?" she asked as she jumped off of the couch and started out the door, Thomas following closely behind her.

"That fat, nasally kid, uh, Carl, yeah, that's his name. He told me to come get you because he and some of the other nerds in that Communications Center next to where the medical camps are just got a message from an Enforcer ship." Shaking his head, Thomas got onto the horse that he took to get from the Comm Center so quickly. "Nevermind, just climb on and you can find out all for yourself."

Libby nodded and climbed onto the horse. Thomas flicked the reins and steered the horse towards the Comm Center. In just a few minutes they were outside of it with Carl waiting outside. "Libby, you're here!"

"Yeah, I am, so what's this I hear about a large force coming towards our army?" Libby asked as she followed Carl into the building the Comm Center was in.

Carl walked over to a radio hooked up to a computer. Manning the equipment was a W-12 soldier wearing thick glasses. "Hey Jin, can you pull up the message-thing we got, please?" The soldier known as Jin only nodded as he proceeded to do so. Turning to Libby, Carl said, "Well, about 5 or 10 minutes ago, we got a message from one of those big Enforcer ships that were keeping the Yolkians friends from trying to help them. They saw something like a big cloud coming towards Jimmy and Shaojia's army, so they sent us a video thingy and some words."

"Message retrieved, sir," Jin finally said after the message finished loading.

Libby shoved Jin out of the way and watched the computer screen intently as the video feed played.

_-Video and Audio Feed-_

_There was blackness on the computer monitor. Suddenly, an off-screen voice rang out of the computer's speaker._

_"Attention Fort Divine Justice. This is the Enforcer ship 'Flying Dagger.' We have reason to believe that an immense and deadly force composed of robots and those black artificial Yolkian-things are headed towards Grand Generals Wang and Neutron and their position. Here is a video feed that you might be able to use to gather intel to report to the Grand Generals before they encounter that new force."_

_Soon, the video began to play. It was a continuous stream with no change except for the environment. A giant, red robot flew past the Yolkian capitol's skyways at rapid speeds, a katana that glowed a fiery red held at its side. Behind it, about a thousand similar black-armored robots flew with a similar weapon held at their side. And behind the robots flew as fast as they could possibly hundreds of thousands of Yolktars._

_The voice rang out again as the the video clip continued to play. "The enemy force is moving at speeds of 125 miles per hour and they had been on the move since oh-8-hundred hours this morning. At this rate, they will make contact with your army at half past 11-hundred hours. Please pass this information on to our grand generals ASAP."_

_-End Video and Audio Feed-_

Libby stood frozen in shock as the clip ended, recognizing the red robot as none other than Professor Finbarr Calamitous. Then she grabbed Carl by the collar of his uniform and demanded, "Did you send this to Jimmy and the others yet?"

Carl shook his head and started screaming frantically. Soon, his words began to become garbled. "Ah, I'm sorry! But it only gothereafewminutesagomaybewecanstillwarnthem! Pleasedon'thurtme!"

Finally, Libby let go of Carl's clothes and calmed down. Thomas put his hand on Libby's shoulder. "I'm sure they're still alright. If what I think what Carl said is true, they couldn't have gotten far, especially with all those foot soldiers slowing them down. There's plenty of time, too."

Libby nodded. Turning to Jin, she ordered, "Try to contact Jimmy and Shaojia's force. We have to warn them."

* * *

General Tian yawned as his trotted ahead of the W-12 forces that had to jog to keep up. Beside him was Jimmy's friend, Sheen Estevez, now General Estevez who was singing some song from his favorite show. He looked over his shoulder at the force behind him. In the center of the formation rode Brigadier General Hong whom he had assigned to guard the group's flanks. 

As the 11,500 strong army marched after their leaders which have left them behind 15 minutes ago to cover more ground, a single radio soldier broke from his ranks and ran up to General Tian, trying to report as he ran. "Sir! A message... from... Fort Divine Justice!"

General Tian held up his hand, signaling for the force behind him to stop. The radio soldier looked up at him gratefully and passed him the radio before bending over to catch his breath. General Tian said into the receiver, "This is General Tian Quanbei, what is your problem Fort Divine Justice?"

On the other side of the line, Libby asked frantically, "Hey, are Jimmy, Cindy, Sheen, and Shaojia there with you?"

General Tian looked at Sheen who was still singing that song before replying, "General Estevez is here, but Generals Wang, Neutron, and Vortex all left 15 minutes ago to scout ahead. Lady Meiling went with them. Why?"

Libby yelled her answer into the receiver. "One of Jimmy's enemies, Professor Calamitous, is headed towards them with at least a thousand robots and an army of maybe a 100,000 Yolktars! I tried to warn them, but we couldn't reach Shaojia's neck radio."

Tian reeled away as Libby's voice still rang in his ears. He was relieved when he heard a struggle on the other line and someone tell Libby that she should calm down. "Sir? This is Comm. Private Jin. One of our ships was on routine blockade duty when they saw something headed towards your battle group. I'll send you the feed now, but you probably shouldn't watch it until you reach Grand General Wang and the others. It'll take too much time, and it's imperative that you reach them soon." Tian looked at the data pad that sat in a pocket in his saddle. In a matter of seconds, the feed had been downloaded.

Finally, Libby regained control of herself. "Can I please talk to Sheen?"

General Tian nodded and handed The receiver to Sheen. "Make it quick," he ordered.

Sheen rolled his eyes and answered, "You got Sheen! Talk to me."

"Sheen?" Libby said. "There's going to be a lot of enemies headed towards you guys soon. Don't forget that you promised me... that you'd stay safe."

Sheen smiled his goofy smile of his. "I will." The communications then got disconnected. Sheen looked at General Tian who looked at the radio soldier.

The soldier shrugged. "Probably some interference."

General Tian shook his head. "Well, enough of this." Turning to Sheen, he said, "We need to warn our generals." Yelling back to Brigadier General Hong, he ordered, "Hong! You're in charge! No stopping! Me and General Estevez are going to leave and warn the scouting party about some unfriendlies headed their way. I want a fast, steady pace. Try and keep up." Hong saluted. "But first..."

General Tian galloped towards the back to where the medics and the portable matter generators were. From it, he pulled out a guan dao, his favored weapon but usually hard to use while in formation but while horseback... To say the least, it was named after Guan Yu, the Chinese War God. With that, General Tian and Sheen bolted out ahead of the battle group while the aforementioned force ran as fast as they could to keep up.

* * *

The three generals and one de facto general passed the border to the 59th Ring about 3 minutes ago. Now, it had been about 45 minutes since they had left the main group to cover more ground and they had already passed a city. Shaojia yelled over to Jimmy in order for him to hear over the galloping of their horses. "Either the cities are getting bigger or the Rings are getting smaller." 

Jimmy nodded and yelled back, "Probably both. I see the next city up ahead. Walled, just like Fort Divine Justice. I bet that after we clear this city, there's only one more until we get to the 58th Ring. Problem is though, that this city is probably the size of Retroville, not some country town like Fort Divine Justice was. It might take a while to cross."

Cindy broke into the conversation as they approached the city's gate. "Well, first, we're going to have to get this door out of the way." Running her hand on the Yolkian steel door, she knocked on it. "Sounds pretty hollow, though."

Shaojia nodded and sheathed his jian. He then put his hand on the hilt of his dao before Meiling stopped him. "Wait. It might be an ambush."

Shaojia looked at Meiling and then the giant city gates before nodding. "Probably, but we'll have to take that risk. We can always retreat." With that, he drew his dao, only to find that he hadn't replaced it from after its service in the Yolkian military base. The blade was black and brittle, looking as if one hit might shatter it.

Jimmy urged his horse ahead instead. "I'll handle this one, Shaojia." With that, he raised his captured electroaxe and swung across the steel gates. As expected, the weak Yolkian wood couldn't stand a chance as Jimmy's attack cut a clean diagonal slash through the gates. Another one going the opposite direction brought the gate crashing straight down where it once stood.

After the dust cleared, Shaojia sheathed his dao and drew his jian again. He then urged his horse forward a little and surveyed the scene. "Alright, it looks like a ghost town. If we just dash through the town, we can avoid an ambush. With luck, it'll draw out the ambush party and my army'll crush them while they're looking the wrong way."

The others nodded and flicked the reins to their horses. At once, the 4 horses jumped over what was left of the city gates and dashed through the city.

Jimmy looked around as his horse galloped through the city at what he estimated to be an impressive 55 mph, along with the others that galloped at around the same speed. It was just like the city that was Fort Divine Justice; there was a single main street which led towards and away from the capitol along with several small roads that led out and around the city as well as outwards around the Ring.

As strange as it sounded, on this alien planet where his parents have been held hostage, on horseback with his electroaxe held against his back to keep it secure, in a deserted Yolkian town, Jimmy actually felt more at peace than ever. He felt the wind slide around his face and body, his steed's steady gallop as it rocketed through the city, and the warmth from the Yolkian sun on his face.

Then, he heard Shaojia yelling at him. "Hey Jim, open your eyes and stop day-dreaming before you-" Before Shaojia could finish, Jimmy's horse stopped where it was to avoid slamming into the gate leading out of the city while Jimmy, who had neglected to strap himself into the stir-ups, wasn't so lucky. "Nevermind."

The others stopped shortly behind Jimmy's horse. Cindy was the first to dismount and rushed to Jimmy's side as he groaned where he lay. Jimmy's velocity combined with the weak Yolkian wood provided cartoon-style results as he smashed a Jimmy-sized hole into the gate. So, Cindy had to kick away some of the weakened wood to get to Jimmy, who was now sitting up and rubbing his forehead.

"Are you alright?" she asked as she tried as hard as she could to hold in her laughter as did Shaojia and Meiling behind her. None of them were very successful.

Jimmy mumbled as he staggered to his feet. "Thanks for the concern," he muttered.

Shaojia helped Jimmy steady himself. "Relax, we all need a laugh every once and a while and it just so happened that the group genius was too busy daydreaming to notice that he was headed straight towards a wall."

Jimmy began to sway once more and fell flat on his hind. "Maybe we should rest," Cindy said, now concerned.

Shaojia nodded. "I guess we should." He looked at the horses. "I'll see if there's water that the horses can drink. They look like they'll drop dead any second now." He grabbed the reins of the four horses and led the horses off towards where he thought he saw a stable. "That is, if the water here doesn't kill them."

Meiling hurried to climb onto one of the horses. "I'll help!"

Shaojia scoffed before cracking a joking grin. "Yeah, real help, sitting on the horse saddle."

As the two left to find water for the horses, Cindy looked at Jimmy. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Jimmy nodded. "Well, despite the fact that I flew through a door, I only have a minor headache."

Cindy smiled and sat on the ground next to him. Overhead, in the big, green, Yolkian sky, a formation of weird-looking birds flew past them, making a sound that was a mix between a duck's quack and Ms. Fowl's craw. "Do you think they're still alive?"

Jimmy looked over at Cindy. "What do you mean?"

"Our parents... Ms. Fowl, Sam, Principal Willoughby, everyone adult in town," Cindy muttered as she laid her head on Jimmy's chest. Jimmy lied down, bringing Cindy softly down with him. "Do you think that they're still even alive?"

Jimmy sighed. "Cindy, I don't even know the answer to that one. We just have to wait and see, alright?"

"But what if we've come here for nothing?" Cindy asked.

Jimmy sighed again as he got up and held Cindy's chin in the cup of his hand. "Trust me, we're here for some peace of mind. If our parents are... Well, you know, we'll be able to get over it in maybe 10 years and we can take our anger out on the League of Villains. If they're alive, then we'll be able to go on with out lives."

She sighed as she let her chin fall out of his hand and laid her head down on Jimmy's shoulder. "I hope you're right."

A loud clearing of the throat made the two nearly jump 20 feet into the air. "I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" Jimmy and Cindy turn around to see Shaojia on horseback with Meiling riding on the saddle directly behind him. One other horse followed behind Shaojia's. He held up to disconnected horse reins. "I was right; the water here's not fit for horses, but I was able to save these two from drinking it. The other two... let's say that whoever used to live here's gonna find an unpleasant sight when they get back."

Jimmy sighed as he helped Cindy up. "So now what? We're down to two horses, this'll really slow us down."

Shaojia looked at Jimmy in mild surprise and shook his head. "And you're supposed to be the smart one," he muttered. He gestured towards the other horse. "You'll have to double-up like me and Meiling. Hurry up, we've wasted enough time."

Jimmy and Cindy looked at each other, both red faced, before nodding. Jimmy mounted first, followed shortly by Cindy. Cindy wrapped her arms around Jimmy's waist to keep herself from falling off the horse. Jimmy nodded in reassurance to himself and looked over at Shaojia who was overly amused. "Let's go."

Shaojia nodded. The two were about to snap their reins to send their horses forward again when the sound of horse gallops in the distance caught their ears along with frantic yelling. "General Jimmy! General Jimmy!" yelled one voice while another yelled, "Dammit! Watch where you're steering that thing!"

Shaojia, Jimmy, Cindy, and Meiling all looked at each other before looking back to see Sheen and General Tian galloping towards them with no sight of the rest of the army. General Tian managed to approach them first. He dismounted and kneeling kowtowed. "Generals! You should stop here, we have some important information."

Shaojia glanced at Jimmy who did the same. The two nodded and dismounted. "What's wrong?" asked Jimmy.

Sheen got out his horse as well. "Well, what had happened was one of Shaojia's navy guy sent this message to us and said that Professor Shorty-Pants and a whole lot of robots and those black Yolkian egg things were coming this way." He then snapped his fingers. "That's what this reminded me of! Ultralord Episode 922, Charge of the Robotic Eggplants!"

Before Sheen could continue, General Tian took a roll of bandages from his horse's saddle and shoved them into Sheen's mouth to keep him quiet. He then took out a small datapad. "I have the transmission here, sir." General Tian pressed play on the small datapad to start the transmission that Comm. Private Jin had sent over. Having never seen it before either, General Tian watched intently along with the others.

Shaojia shook his head. "So much for sneaking by undetected," he muttered. "What's their ETA?"

General Tian thought for a few seconds, trying to count how many minutes until the battle group got there. Jimmy answered first after the first half-second. "From the looks of it, 20 minutes, probably less." Jimmy then looked around the city they were in. "Looks like we better make a stand here and try to defeat them while we're inside this city. It has walls so it should be very easy to defend, but if that red robot is who I think it is, Calamitous is not going to make it easy for us."

Shaojia nodded. He looked at the surrounding walls and then to the damaged gate doors. "Jimmy, are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

Jimmy looked at what Shaojia was looking at. The others turned their attention to the doors as well. Jimmy grinned. "Let's lure them into a trap." He then turned to General Tian. "How long until the main army gets here?"

General Tian looked at Sheen who was still trying to dislodge the roll of bandages from his mouth. He shrugged. "I don't know for sure, sir, but I'd say a good 10 more minutes is the minimum."

Jimmy nodded. "That's just enough time."

* * *

General Tian was off by about a minute. The main force arrived 11 minutes after the plans had been discussed. Tired, they weren't too eager to jump straight into action, but life and death were pretty good motivators. So now, frantically rushing everyone into their positions, Jimmy and the others couldn't help but wonder if their plan would work. 

Taking a page from ancient Chinese warfare, they were going to use an Empty Fort Strategy to defeat the superior in numbers enemies along with the technologically advanced robots Calamitous had brought along with him. They would lure Calamitous' forces into the city. Once the last enemy unit had entered the fort, the gate that wasn't destroyed would be locked with artillery units placed there to prevent any attempts to escape through there, creating an auxiliary chokepoint. The remaining exit would become the main chokepoint where the enemy forces that tried to retreat through there would be demolished by heavy artillery and SAW units.

At the same time, the remaining units that had hidden inside buildings and along the ramparts of the city walls would attack the enemy force via ambush. All SAW and portable artillery units that hadn't been assigned to the two chokepoints would attack enemies from above on the ramparts of the walls while the main infantry which had been reduced to fighting with either qiang or dao would attack any enemy that moved.

The only problem, though, was that Calamitous and his robots had repulsor jets enabling them to fly. They could easily evade the ambush and then try and pick off random units with those deadly looking swords of theirs. Jimmy's plan was to have any available heavy artillery units not currently engaging an enemy force to act as Anti-Air emplacements and take out any robot that got in their killzone. He just hoped it worked.

At the moment, Jimmy was now hiding behind a building adjacent to the main road the led in and out of the city. With him were Cindy, Shaojia, Meiling, General Tian, and Sheen who no longer had a roll of bandages in his mouth. "You sure this'll work?" Jimmy asked Shaojia who was behind him with his jian, the only usable weapon he had left, gripped tightly in his hand.

Shaojia shrugged. "Either this goes really well for us or really well for your friend Calamitous."

"Nice way to reassure him," Cindy muttered as she gripped her dao.

Sheen scoffed as he yawned with his dao stretched above his head. "Ah lighten up, Cindy! What's the worse that could happen?"

"We all die," General Tian muttered to Sheen as he tightened his grip on his Guan Dao.

"Always the pessimist," Meiling muttered as she moved over towards Shaojia, her hook swords held towards the ground.

Jimmy looked around as the pre-battle jitters began to affect not just the generals but all of the other soldiers as well. The soldiers, all younger than 16 and wearing full combat armor, were talking quietly amongst themselves. About a platoon of soldiers had hidden behind a particularly large building that appeared to be the mail office of the former city. Each and everyone of them were silently praying to make it out alive.

Then a thought struck Jimmy. In the entire war, never had he taken a human life, just the lives of Yolkians and Yolktars which didn't entirely bother him. Now, though, he would have to most likely kill Calamitous seeing as capturing him was pretty much impossible and his escape would be unacceptable. But if his plan failed, he would have inadvertently killed every last person here.

* * *

Calamitous and his battle group closed in on a city that his sensors had identified as the Yolkian agricultural metropolis An'tak-Yook. In Yolkian translated to English, it was supposed to mean something like Farm Prairie Meadows, but who cared? "Don't waste time, my minions," he said to the following army, "Fly over that city." 

One of his robot minions flew up next to him. "Sir, sensors indicate multiple heat signatures and anti-air artillery batteries gathered around the proximity ahead."

Calamitous smirked. "My, Neutron, how clever of you. And how very foolish." He held out his robotic suit's left arm which automatically transformed into a missile pod launcher. "Minions! Fire missiles at any and all heat signatures. Then, sweep in and attack."

* * *

Sergeant Ye Haojun was standing with his crossbow, kneeling so that he wouldn't be seen. Though not a Christian, as an Enforcer, he knew that there was in fact a God that ruled over many other gods, some of which didn't exist in rare cases. Sure, it made the job a little confusing from time to time, but since there was a certain someone up there, he might as well pray so he wouldn't get blown to bits or something. 

"Uh, God, if uh... You can hear me, I just wanna say that..." He scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Screw it, no times to recite psalms and stuff now." Not long after, the sounds of thousands upon thousands of missiles leaving their launchers was heard north of his position. "Holy shit," was all Haojun could say before missiles turned him and the wall upon which he was standing on into fiery shrapnel.

* * *

"Missile attack!" yelled one of the soldiers nearby as missiles flew everywhere, often hitting rooftops while a majority pounded into the wall that faced the capital building. The sounds of screaming soldiers as they flew into the air and died were terrifying to Jimmy. More so, however, to Cindy. Never in her life had she ever heard anything so horrible. 

Shaojia, however, only had to pause for half a second. "They're onto us," he muttered to Jimmy. "You take it from here. It's your time to shine, kid."

Jimmy gulped and nodded before assessing the situation. The missiles didn't seem to be attacking in a randomized position. He half of one soldier fall nearby before a missile altered its trajectory slightly so that it could hammer it into a crater in the ground. He also heard explosions from where artillery emplacements were struck. No missile strike was that accurate. "Hold position, they're using heat seeking missiles!"

Shaojia nodded and turned to Tian. "Contact Hong and have him have all artillery units focus power on the north, but do not under any circumstance move from their position." Tian nodded and knelt down in order to obtain maximum radio reception. Soon, returning volvoes of missile shells flew to the north and fainter explosions were heard.

A missile struck a building nearby in an attempt to hit the men standing behind it. The building practically erupted in a ball of fire, knocking the soldiers that sought cover behind it to the ground as fiery rain fell down around them. Not long after, a few missiles targeted them. Jimmy closed his eyes and covered Cindy's as the missiles connected the defenseless soldiers.

"This is a massacre," Jimmy said to Shaojia. "We can't hold up much longer."

Shaojia nodded. "Retreat! Stay behind the buildings and retreat to the south gate!" Not long after he said that, did the missile rain finally stop. "Oh, excellent timing."

Jimmy nodded and took a hint to the reason to Shaojia's last statement. "Keep alert, their coming!"

Meiling, who had been hiding behind Shaojia as the missiles rained, turned to say to General Tian, "Now's our chance! Have all artillery units fire at the north. They'll be running into a grinder." Tian obeyed and again, artillery shells pierced the sky, blocked the sun, and connected with an unseen enemy.

"Hold your ground!" Shaojia yelled as his soldiers tried to reorganize.

Jimmy took a deep breath and looked at Cindy and then to Sheen. Both of them were now scared stiff. Sheen was always a jumpy one, especially when things got a little hairy. After Carl, he was the next to run scared when the time was right. Not that Jimmy could blame him, but courage always seemed to fleet him whenever he wasn't in a crazed Ultralord fantasy.

Cindy on the other hand surprised him. Other than an odd fear of monkeys after that little incident on the island in the Pacific Ocean they were stranded on for a few days, she feared nothing else. Except for missiles tearing people to shreds, apparently. Now, she looked like a statue; pale, stiff, and unmoving, Jimmy waved his hands in front of her to make sure she hadn't passed out standing.

"You alright?" he asked.

Cindy shook her head to clear her thoughts and stuttered, "Y-yeah, fine."

Jimmy nodded and touched her hand. Cindy smiled at him and he returned it.

And out of that moment of peace, a voice boomed overhead. "Hello, Jimmy."

Jimmy looked up and saw the characteristic red robot suit owned by none other than his fellow scientific genius Professor Finbarr Calamitous. "Professor Calamitous," Jimmy greeted in return with a slight hint of malice in his voice, a feature previously unknown to him. "I've been expecting you."

"Really?" Calamitous mocked as he descended along with a few robot lackeys which surrounded Jimmy and his quarry. They all took up fighting stances and readied for a fight as similar scenes took place all around the city. "My, then I am even more disappointed. Of course, what would a simple big-headed child know of war?"

"Plenty," Jimmy retorted before swinging his electroaxe at Calamitous. The professor blocked with a weapon Jimmy had seen only in science-fiction movies, Japanese cartoons, and video games, a katana made entirely out of concentrated plasma. Or was it negative ions and neutrinos? Eh, semantics...

The moment Jimmy's axe-head hit Calamitous' new weapon, throughout the city, all Hell broke loose. Soldiers launched themselves at their robot attackers before the mechanicals' processors could analyze the situation. Chinese steel against scientific steel, war had erupted in the once probably peaceful city.

Jimmy and Calamitous tried to break the weaponlock they soon found themselves in, each fighter trying to overwhelm the other. Though in a robot suit, Calamitous' main flaw was that while he still had that odd condition where he could never finish anything, he had forgotten to fix a design flaw about the suit mirroring his own physical actions and abilities, which meant that whatever he did, the robot did accordingly in measure to his own power and capability of doing so. And with strength not exactly one of his strong points, he and Jimmy were a bit unbalanced.

Jimmy shoved Calamitous off balance before whipping the non-lethal end of his electroaxe at Calamitous' robot torso. Calamitous jumped back slightly before powering up his jet boots and quickly dashing around behind Jimmy. Jimmy barely dodged Calamitous' axe attack in time as he crouched down. The lethal Plasma Blade flew just centimeters over Jimmy's head, where his goofy hairdo used to be. Well, at least he got a haircut before so he didn't get one now.

* * *

Cindy couldn't keep her eyes off of Jimmy, even though she was engaged in a deadly battle with one of Calamitous' robot minions. Long had she realized that the plasma radiating off of the robot's sword would cut her and her steel dao in half, so she was just batting the weapon to the side, splitting her concentration on Jimmy and on the robot. 

Jimmy had indeed changed over what had to be almost two weeks since their parent's abduction. Once entirely civil and relatively timid, he was now bold and harsh, as can be told by his onslaught on Calamitous who had a hard time deflecting an electrically powered axe-head along with the non-lethal end of said axe. And it scared her. It scared her to think that war had warped the mind of her once so innocent Jimmy.

Still, she kept her concentration where it belonged right now, in the battlefield, with this robot that tried so desperately to severe her head. Ducking under one last Plasma Blade swipe, she rolled to the other side of the robot and stabbed it in its backside where she believed the power core to be. Correct as she always thought she was, she kicked the robot onto one that was about to kill a W-12 soldier. The two collided and ran into a wall where the first exploded causing the second to follow suit, leaving an impressive hole in the wall of the building they had crashed against.

With two victories under her belt for this battle, she searched for another opponent.

* * *

'Ultralord! Ultralord! Oh how mighty can you be?' sang Sheen as he gleefully hacked away at any robots he could find from behind. Having defeated his first opponent by making it trip over itself and chopping its head off, Sheen was now helping other's out by slashing the heads and limbs of robots from behind. 

'Ultralord! Ultralord! We're surrounded by 5 armies! 'Fear not, mighty child, with you, me, and liberty- Nothing can stop the might of the mighty Ultralord'!'

Sheen saw out of the corner of his eye a robot headed toward him, its Plasma Blade raised in the air as it ran, much like a samurai warrior. Sheen grinned goofily and flattened himself on the floor before throwing himself at the robot's legs. Tripping the mechanical menace over, he quickly got up and stabbed the robot in the back.

'Fight! Fight! Oh Ultralord for you fight like 20 armies!'

**((A/N: Any UT fans, that there was sung to the theme of your fight song. Enjoy.))**

* * *

Meiling was surprised that she had held out as long as she had. It had been a while so long as she could tell since the battle had started. Though it was probably only 10 minutes ago, her body felt like it was 10 days ago. Perhaps Shaojia was right that she wouldn't survive it through one battle. 

She shook her head as she snuck through the defenses of the robot she was now fighting and crossed her hookswords around its 'neck' in an X-shape before jerking them out in opposite directions, decapitating it and spewing oil all over the place. She ran over to kill another robot from behind, jumping over her first kill which she had executed in a similar fashion to her second, third, and now fourth.

Running behind a Yolkian tree which had somehow remained intact from the onslaught of missiles earlier, she caught her breath and tried to think. 'Where is Shaojia anyways?' she thought as she scanned the battlefield. Overhead, missiles and artillery shells flew everywhere, some connecting with robot's that flew in their field of fire, others missing horribly and landing on the other side of the fort.

There was no sign of her long-time guardian and object of affection, though in the masse of fighting bodies, human and mechanical, he could be anywhere at anytime. She didn't know how awful war really was when she asked to be in it, and now that she had, she never would again. It was stupid of her to go against Shaojia's warnings, but she just had to- Wait, if Shaojia knew how bad war was, why did he let her- Oh that clever, clever bastard...

Shaojia had probably allowed her to fight because he knew that she would never ask to fight again and that he could still easily protect her. In fact, he was probably lingering over her somewhere right now. She stomped her foot and charged a robot and sliced it cleanly in half before turning on another one and executing it in the same manner as the other one. She'd show him that she could hold her own. No was she going to back down without a fight.

* * *

Shaojia was fighting back-to-back with Quanbei, as it had been in the good old days out in the field with Paosung and Kaifeng right there by his side. With his dao having been disintegrated the day before, he was fighting with his father's sword, the Imperial Fang, while Quanbei fought with a weapon which he was quite the master of, the Guan Dao, a staff with a dao blade pretty much bolted to the top of it. 

Having defeated their first opponents long ago, they were now helping out their men, hacking away at robots from behind. Although it wasn't their style, people's lives were at stake and as such, they couldn't waste time fighting face-to-face. Besides, they were just robots anyways.

"Just like old times, eh Quanbei-di!" Shaojia cheered as he hacked away at a guard that had tried to rush him. The added length of his jian and the weight of the robot's Plasma Blade allowed him to easily sneak through the robot's defenses and kill it.

"Damn right, Da ge!" Quanbei replied as he swung at the backsides of three adjacent robots. "Just wish Kaifeng-san-di and Paosung-si-di were here, though."

"Ah, you're such a downer!" Shaojia teased as he shoved his jian through the abdomen of one robot before jerking it out to stab the one right behind him. "Live a little!" Shaojia then proceeded to jump over the previously impaled robot and sliced the legs out from under another one.

Quanbei rolled his eyes as he loyally followed, taking wide swings with his Guan Dao that killed three to four robots at a time. "For the oldest of the bunch, you can act like such a kid," he muttered as he followed Shaojia who was now actually engaged in a real fight. Quanbei covered Shaojia's flanks and hacked away at any robots that strayed too close.

Shaojia jumped over the robot's Plasma Blade swing and landed on the other side of the robot in a perfect flanking position. The robot was smart, though, and dodged his stab. Swinging its Plasma Blade the other way around, Shaojia had to jump back over to the other side of the robot, but landed flat on his back when he cleared the mechanical monster. He rolled to the side to avoid a Plasma Blade thrust that stuck the weapon into the ground. That was all Shaojia needed to have the robot vulnerable enough to a jian thrust straight through the chest. Kicking the robot in its torso, he not only pulled out the sword but shoved the robot into its comrade as well, killing both.

Shaojia smirked at Quanbei as he helped him fend off robots that were now coming after them after killing the W-12 soldiers they were initially paired off against. "Beat that."

Quanbei rolled his eyes.

* * *

Jimmy ducked under yet another one of Calamitous' Plasma Blade swings. He then shot an axe-sweep at Calamitous' legs, but the height-challenged genius merely fired his thrusters once more and levitated around him. Jimmy charged him, attacking with his electroaxe like a man possessed. Calamitous tried to parry each one, but failed. Jimmy was able to cut through Calamitous's defenses and severed the robot suit's left hand. 

"Agh!" Calamitous yelled. "Watch it, Neutron! I only have two of those."

Jimmy scoffed as he readied himself for another attack. "Well, now you have one. Let me even that out for you!"

Jimmy charged again, spinning his axe around his body as he approached Calamitous. "You fight ruthlessly, Jimmy," Calamitous remarked as they locked blades. Calamitous' robot's eyes glared deep into Jimmy's who returned the glare with twice the intensity.

"You and your friends kidnapped my parents and are trying to kill us. What did you expect?" Jimmy retorted as he tried to break the hold. Calamitous only took a step back to maintain the lock.

"Oh, but your rage, your vengeance, such trivial matters to me, Jimmy old boy," Calamitous rattled on. "For you see, what is it that makes us so blind that we do not know friend from foe?" Jimmy didn't answer as he continued to push forward. Calamitous stepped back. "It is rage, Jimmy, and you have a lot of it." He then stepped back and holstered his Plasma Blade while putting his hands up in the air in surrender. "I surrender Jimmy, you win. Now kill me."

Time stopped. Jimmy's mind was indeed foggy, the adrenaline rush overcoming his brain. He knew not who he was, or why he was here. He only knew one thing, and that is how to kill. Shaojia, who was only a few feet away, saw this and the whole scene as a whole. "Jimmy, don't!"

Too late. Time resumed its unpredictable flow. Jimmy's mind was far too gone to the rushes of battle and adrenaline, war coursing through his blood now. He lifted his electroaxe to slice Calamitous in half, only to have Calamitous hover out of striking range. But Cindy, who Calamitous was walking towards and leading Jimmy to their entire fight, was just barely in range. Now, the adrenaline was gone, only to be filled with all-consuming fear.

Jimmy couldn't stop his blade from making its deadly arc towards Cindy who screamed in terror as the electroaxe blade came at her. Luckily, Shaojia was there to intervene. With the Imperial Fang grasped tightly in both hands, he had engaged Jimmy in a bladelock. "Get a hold of yourself, Neutron!" Shaojia barked as he knocked away the blade and grabbed Jimmy by the collar. "Don't fall into his traps."

Calamitous roared in anger that his trick had been defeated. "Curses, you foiled my plan." He then smirked and his robot's face reflected his malicious glee. "Whatever shall I do?" He then held out his left arm, the hand socket twitching with electricity before splitting into 4 parts, opening like a flower, then protruding into 4 gatling-gun barrels. "Oh, right, this."

Shaojia could only stare in shock as the gatling guns rotated and fired a concentrated blast at him. He had enough sense to try and get to cover, though, and the piece of fallen building that he had taken shelter behind took most of the blow, but not all of it. The force of the blast was still strong enough to send him flying into a nearby wall, rendering him unconscious.

Meiling ran to him as well as Quanbei. The fighting all around them, which had seemed to cease as the exchange of words and swords went on, commenced once more as chaos enveloped them. Cindy was still standing in shock at the close call she nearly had before returning to battle with the robots that now surrounded her while Sheen fought his way to her to help out.

Meanwhile, Jimmy and Calamitous faced each other in the courtyard of some fancy farmer's estate not too far away from where they had originally started fighting. There wasn't much fighting around them, just the occasional W-12 soldier being chased by Calamitous' robots and vice-versa, maybe an artillery shell falling short near them and destroying either a building or a robot.

"You nearly killed Cindy!" Jimmy yelled.

Calamitous smirked. "That was your own lack of control, Neutron. You should have known better."

And Jimmy knew that it was true. He should've known that Calamitous was leading him into a trap. He had almost killed Cindy if it weren't for Shaojia who was now seriously injured due to his mistake, but mostly due to Calamitous' arm cannon. But even if it was primarily his fault, Jimmy would never admit it to anyone like Calamitous.

Jimmy grasped his electroaxe in both hands tightly. "Let's finish this, Calamitous."

* * *

Meiling and Quanbei rushed over to Shaojia's side as W-12 soldiers all around them tried to form a defensive perimeter. Meiling jumped over the body of one soldier that fell without his head before getting on the ground and rolling to avoid a pistol round that connected with a robot's optical sensors. 

It was sheer pandemonium when they finally got to Shaojia's side. While Shaojia sat slumped over and unconscious, soldiers and robots were dueling each other with either their original weapons or weapons from fallen comrades. Nearby, a soldier was fighting a robot with a Plasma Blade while the latter used its original Plasma Blade. It didn't last long before the soldier broke through the mechanical's defenses and sliced it and half. Soon after, the soldier was promptly cut down by another robot who then engaged another soldier in combat.

"Shaojia!" Meiling cried as she tried to shake him awake. Quanbei stood nearby, hacking away at any of Calamitous' robots that got too close. "Wake up! Shaojia!"

Shaojia groaned slightly as he began to come to. "Ugh, what happened?" He removed his hand from where it had fallen to, by his side. He looked at the blood that covered it and his head sank backwards. "Crap..."

"You're hurt," Meiling noted as she inspected Shaojia's side. "You're wound reopened, we have to get you out of here!"

Shaojia shook his head as he tried to stand up on his own will. "What time is it?"

Meiling looked up at the sky. The Yolkian sun was right over them, now, a shining mass of hydrogen light that cast an eerie, golden-red glow that covered the battlefield. "It's about noon, maybe a little bit after."

Shaojia smirked as his legs fell out from under him and he sat back against the wall. He coughed out a bit of blood before pointing back in the direction from where they had come. "The calvary arrives."

Meiling and Quanbei looked where Shaojia had pointed. And over the flaming buildings, over the artillery shells, over the crumbling city walls flew several _Infiltrator_-class landing shuttles, armed to the teeth with the latest Enforcer missile technology and anti-personnel 50 cal. machine guns at the wings, sides, and chin of the bird. And on each bird rode 30 fresh and newly-trained N-12 soldiers wearing new Enforcer armor.

* * *

Libby looked around the cabin cautiously as the W-12 pilot flew the landing shuttle at rapid speeds, shooting over the Yolkian soil like an eagle. Like the other people in the landing shuttle's crew compartment, she wore Jimmy's latest invention, so dubbed by the Enforcer matter generators 'Armor Model N-12 YK/14-3 Anti-Personnel Armor.' 

Though it wasn't as fashionable as most other things Libby has worn, the armor did make her feel rather safe. Though without the armor's helmet on, she could still feel the armor suit's gel layer that kept her body cool and at a reasonable temperature. She looked around at the other soldiers around them. Since there were only 25 soldiers left in Jimmy's army, she decided to have them all split up, 5 soldiers on 5 different shuttles with the rest of the shuttle's crew being medical staff.

On three of the shuttles were the only officers of the army that hadn't left, her, Nick, and Butch. Libby heard a crackling sound in her helmet. Donning it, she instantly saw things she thought only existed in video games. In front of her was a Heads-Up-Display, or HUD, which displayed a targeting reticule, current goggle settings, and radio frequency. In the handbook that had been given to her along with the armor, it said that to activate either the thermal, night vision, or switch back to normal setting she had to press one of the three buttons that were underneath the chin of the helmet.

Another sound was heard. With the helmet off, the sound was like a crackle, but with it on, Libby could clearly tell that it was more of a soft beep that was distorted slightly. She pressed and held the small button that was located directly on the right side of the helmet. That was how one activated the radio and once she activated it, she heard Nick trying to contact her. "Libby, you there?"

"I'm here, Nick," she answered as she continued to look at the features of the armor. On the right wrist gauntlet sat a single nozzle that looked like a fire hose nozzle, but according to the handbook, it was the exact opposite. Located directly behind the nozzle on the wrist was a pressure sensor that when one placed his or her hand directly on and applied a small bit of pressure on it, a geyser of flame would shoot out of the nozzle and torch anything in the vicinity. Attached to the nozzle was a dagger that was detachable, but was long enough so that one could impale a target on the blade and then set the target on fire.

"Hey, it looks like we're almost where the army is," Nick said as Libby looked at the rapier that sat on the left side of her waist. Along with the rapier, she and all other N-12 Enforcers had been given an M9 pistol and an M4 Assault Rifle to use to take out any enemy units they find.

"How does the battlefield look?" she asked.

"Not good," Nick answered. "See for yourself."

Libby went over to the cockpit and nearly fainted. Artillery emplacements were firing across and over a city. On the side of the city opposite to the artillery, Yolktars stood waiting for orders even as artillery shells fell on and around them. The city between both forces was on fire and in the city she could see soldiers and robots in red with shimmering katanas fighting. Bodies and robot parts were strewn all over the city. Buildings were crumbling and burning.

"My God," she muttered. She then yelled to the pilot. "Circle around and find us a good landing spot, then go around and help our guys fight off the robots!"

* * *

Cindy was still slightly in shock about her close call with Jimmy's blade, but shoved it out of her mind. 'It was just Calamitous' trick,' she repeated to herself as she fought her way to where she saw Jimmy and Calamitous retreat to so they could fight one-on-one. 'He would never hurt you, he just lost control.' Still, it worried her that Jimmy even lost control. War really was changing all of them. 

She frontflipped over one robot and stabbed it in the back before jumping to one side, kicking off of the head of a nearby robot and giving a more forceful kick to an adjacent robot. The second she landed, all three mechanized fighters fell. She then saw Jimmy and Calamitous, dueling in the middle of a small courtyard that belonged to either a successful farmer or the mayor of the city.

Suddenly, gunfire rained out from the south. Cindy turned around and looked. After slicing the head off of the robot that was headed towards her, she now had a clear view of the most angelic sight she had ever seen in her life, 5 Enforcer landing shuttles filled with soldiers heading their way, spraying lead and missiles onto robots.

All around her, she saw that with the appearance of the reinforcements, the morale of the W-12 troops had risen to impossible highs and they were fighting harder than ever now. Soldiers ganged up on robots, two or three at a time, and beat the robots to simple gears and shrapnel. One of the landing shuttles then started to fly near her. The roar of the dual 50 cal. machine guns at the chin of the shuttle rang in her ear as they cut down all of the robots in the area while the machine guns on the side, manned by the crew inside, did the same.

She ran over to the other side of the shuttle and was thrilled to see 6 people wearing Jimmy's armor design. Crimson in hue with the Neutron insignia on the right side of the chest, the 6 N-12 soldiers were just what Cindy wanted to see and the 24 medics that jumped out of the shuttle armed with shotguns was the icing on the cake.

One of the soldiers, who was obviously female by the way she stood with a hand on her hip, took off her helmet. Flicking her hair back, Libby smiled at Cindy and ran to hug her. "Cindy, I'm so glad you're okay!"

Cindy nodded. She broke the embrace and looked around as the N-12 soldiers took out their M4 Assault Rifles and gunned down a few retreating robots, all the while providing cover fire for the medics that scurried around to assist the wounded. "Great to see you too, Libs."

Libby nodded before looking around. "Uh, where's Sheen?"

"Right here, Libs!" Sheen yelled as he ran towards Libby, his arms outstretched for a loving embrace. Unfortunately, he tripped over a soldier's corpse roughly a few feet away from Libby. He got up nonchalantly and smiled. "Your Love General reporting for duty, my amore."

Cindy rolled her eyes at the reunion. One of the soldiers, who she could not identify because of the oddly intimidating helmet, saluted. "General, there are Yolktars to the north of this city. The robots are retreating to regroup with them. What do you want us to do?"

Cindy looked around for an answer. All around them, the W-12 soldiers were cheering and celebrating as the robots fled, most of them missing a limb or two. "Uh... I... I think that..."

A voice rang out from behind her. "Form a defensive wall between this city and their forces, but don't get too close to them. Have the artillery go around the city and flank them from both sides." Cindy turned around to see Shaojia walking towards her, with Meiling and General Tian on either side of him supporting him as he walked. He was obviously injured, preferring his right side more than his left, and the small trail of blood that fell down his mouth only confirmed her suspicions.

"A-Shaojia-ge," Meiling pleaded, putting her hand on his armored chest. "You should sit down."

"I agree, Da Ge," General Tian said, holding back Shaojia's arm to stop his pace. "You should relax."

Shaojia broke away from Tian's grip and shook his head. "I'll be fine. We just have to secure a perimeter first." He then said to the soldier Cindy was talking to, "Go with General Tian here and set up a defensive perimeter." Shaojia looked over to Tian who reluctantly nodded. He and the N-12 soldier ran off to do as they were told.

Without Tian there to support him on his left, Shaojia fell to one knee. "A-Shaojia-ge!" Meiling cried as she ran around to help him up. "Are you alright?"

Libby and Cindy looked at each other and nodded. Sheen, meanwhile, just stood there confused. Libby walked over to where Shaojia was and tried to help him up while Cindy went to console Meiling. Shaojia stopped all of the movement by just holding up his hand. "Admiral Folfax," Shaojia said to Libby, "did you bring a matter generator with you?"

Libby nodded and pointed to a cylinder that three medics were carrying out of the landing shuttle. After the cylinder was carried out, one of the medics slapped the ramp of the shuttle and the aircraft ascended, circling around the city to take some pot shots at any robots it saw.

"I had them loaded up onto each shuttle just like you asked," Libby said as she waved the medics over to set up the matter generator nearby.

Shaojia nodded and pointed to Cindy and Sheen. "You two, suit up into those armor suits. Where's Jimmy?"

Cindy pointed over to the courtyard where she had last seen him. Jimmy was still there, as was Calamitous, fighting fiercely. "They've been at it ever since the battle started," Cindy said.

Shaojia nodded as he got up and limped over to where the fight was. The others gathered around. All around the courtyard, N-12 and W-12 troops began to come over to the courtyard now that there fight was over. "This is his fight," Shaojia said. "He has to win it on his own."

* * *

Jimmy could only feel that familiar feeling of raw aggression building up inside of him as he continued his attack. Both combatants had taken quite a beating, his injuries a bit more visible than Calamitous' thanks to the robot suit the professor used. Jimmy swung his electroaxe once more at Calamitous who blocked with his Plasma Blade and shifted his weight to strike downwards. 

Jimmy hopped to the side and kicked Calamitous in the side which knocked both of them down, Jimmy because he had just kicked metal, Calamitous because he just got kicked. Getting up, the two charged each other and engaged in yet another bladelock, the sparks emitted from their weapons showering the area. Jimmy broke the lock and hammered Calamitous' head with the non-lethal end of the electroaxe. The two separated and kept their distance.

After recovering from the head blow, Calamitous was looking around back and forth, having now realized that his troops have all retreated to the main group and that he was all alone and surrounded by enemy forces. "Afraid now that all your minions have left you, Calamitous?" Jimmy mocked as he swung his axe low at Calamitous' robot legs.

Calamitous scoffed. "On the contrary, Jimmy my boy." He fired his boot thrusters and levitated well out of Jimmy's reach. "I'll see you at the gate. Our forces will clash once and for all!" And with that, Calamitous dipped down quickly to kick Jimmy in the chest before shooting out of reach, flying towards his battle group.

Jimmy clutched his chest as he recovered from the cheap shot. Soon, he found himself tackled to the ground, Cindy on top of him, wrapping him in an embrace. "Jimmy, are you alright?" she asked as she put her hands on a small cut on Jimmy's right arm. Jimmy hissed slightly and Cindy drew her arm back slightly as blood poured from the cut. "You're hurt."

Jimmy shook his head as he pushed himself up so that he was supported by his elbows. "I'm fine."

From nearby, both of them could hear poorly concealed snickers. "Anyone got a camera?" asked Libby's voice. Jimmy and Cindy looked over at them before realizing the... compromising position they were in, Cindy on top of Jimmy's waist, Jimmy leaned back on his elbows, and Cindy's legs on either side of him. The two instantly split away, suddenly ending up on opposite ends of the courtyard, whistling innocently and looking in opposite directions, all the while sharing a radiant shade of red.

Shaojia's voice rang over the snickers and killed all thoughts of tom-foolery. "Alright, all of you, up at the gate, form a defensive line before the enemy gets charging again! Move it!" Quickly, the crowd dispersed, combat boots pounding the dirt, armor plates clinking together and growing fainter as their owners went farther. Shaojia limped into the scene with Meiling at his side, helping him walk. Off was his helmet which he held by his side. A slight trail of dry blood ran down his chin.

Jimmy was first to regain his composure. "Shaojia, are you alright?"

He nodded. "Just a little banged up. Probably have to sit out the first half of the battle-"

"Oh come on!" Meiling moaned as she gestured up and down Shaojia. "Look how hurt you are! You can't possibly believe that you can still fight, can you?"

Shaojia rolled his eyes. "I'm fine, just a little banged up, nothing some meds can't fix." He then turned back to Jimmy and now Cindy who too regained her composure. "You two are gonna have to beat Calamitous on your own until then, though. Think you can handle that?"

They nodded. As soon as they did, a soldier ran up to Shaojia and Meiling and bowed. "General! General Tian has located a highrise building near the north side of the town, by the gate. A little chopped up, but it should provide a good view of the battle, he said, sir."

Shaojia nodded and gestured that he would follow. As the trio left, Jimmy turned to Cindy to talk to her when he noticed her new apparel. It seemed as if CelestiCorp had made armor designs for both genders as shown by the armor Cindy wore which let out a bit more of a feminine appeal. The armor wrapped around her curves elegantly and was sharply contrasted by the deadly flamethrower attatched to her wrist gauntlet. She didn't wear the concealing helmet, though, which left her blonde hair free to flow down her armored back.

"Wow..." was all Jimmy could say as he gazed at Cindy. "You look.. great..."

Cindy blushed and giggled. "Thanks," she whispered as she dug her toe into the dirt a little. A few seconds passed before an artillery shell flew low overhead, snapping them out of their stupor. Cindy then remembered that Jimmy would also need an armor suit. "Hey, let's you get suited up, too. Wouldn't want you losing that smart head of yours would we?"

Jimmy smiled and grabbed Cindy's hand. She returned the smile and led him to the matter generator.

* * *

Tian stared over the decimated north gate of the abandoned Yolkian city. Hordes among hordes of Yolktars now engulfed the entire scenery, seeming to stretch as far as the horizon itself. An imposing monument to what seemed to be a giant, 3-headed chicken stood imperially above the entire scene far off in the distance, as far as what seemed to be thousands of miles away. 

He adjusted his gaze lower to see the remaining robotic assassins that belonged to Neutron's nemesis, one Professor Calamitous who was supposedly a miniature genius of a man inside of a giant robot suit. There had to be at least 600 of the menacing mechanical beasts, armed to the teeth with ultramodern technology. Of the original 1000 or so that had started off the battle, his and Shaojia's forces destroyed around 400 of them at the cost at possibly 200 of their own, probably more.

He turned around to look at the city behind him. It was in shambles now. Fire spurted out of rooftops, buildings lay shattered in the streets, and worst of all, bodies littered the ground. This was their worst battle of the war, past casualty counts usually below 150 due to the retreating nature of the Yolkian Army. But now that land was becoming more scarce. Soon, they would run out of room to run and would fight back, and the Enforcers would lose more good boys.

That's all these soldiers were to him, boys, not cut out for fighting like him, and Shaojia, and all of the other demons of China from their universe. They were minor gods in their own right, seeing as their central main ancestor was a banished god. That didn't matter, though, because as long as they could cash a paycheck, they can keep living a life that the wars back in their universe prevented them from ever having a chance of having before.

He refocused his eyes on the stairwell as footsteps approached, one a normal one while the other was more like someone limping, one step here then a long pause before another step followed. 'Shaojia and Meiling,' Tian thought to himself as he walked over to the stairwell.

His prediction was correct. Coming up the stairs were Shaojia and Meiling with the 11-year-old girl helping the 12-year-old general scale the winding steps. It seemed to be an arduous task for him as with every ascending step, he gritted in pain before pushing onwards. "A-Shaojia-ge," Meiling pleaded as she held him up, "You should relax and let the soldiers help you up."

"The soldiers need to be at the front before the enemy crashes against us," he retorted, scaling the last step.

Tian immediately came to Shaojia's aide while Meiling maintained her position on the other side of the stubborn general. "She's right, Brother. You're in no condition to fight right now, and this next battle needs a bit more strategy than the battles we've fought before this one."

Shaojia scoffed. "Strategy is for the old and wise, not the young and able."

"More like the stupid and arrogant," Meiling muttered as she helped Shaojia a little more roughly. "You need rest!"

"I'm fine!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

Tian shook his head. "Ugh, if this is how they're fighting now, I don't even want to be around to see how they fight when they're married," he muttered as he went back to staring at the waves of enemy units, lined up as an angry red sun bore down on them, sending fiery rays glinting off of their armor every which way. Then, movement at the front of the enemy line.

The robots had shifted position, lining up like football players, preparing to charge. Behind them, the Yolktars also prepared to charge, putting their electrostaffs in a jabbing position, leaning forward ready to attack at their order. Across the battlefield, the Enforcer forces, W-12 now mingled with N-12 stood in formation, preparing to hold the narrow pass that was what was left of the city's north gate.

Tian yelled at a messenger positioned on a horse below. "Messenger, locate General Neutron! The enemy is about to charge!" Behind him, he heard Shaojia and Meiling fall silent.

Shaojia limped up to him and assumed a position overseeing the battle. "No strategy can win this one, Quanbei. This is Neutron's fight, his and his alone."

* * *

**The Afterthought:**

Author: Alright, settle down, the first real cliffhanger of the series. (Cowers) Don't kill me!

Enraged Mob: (Lowers torches and pitchforks) Awwwww...

Author: Phew, bullet dodged. Anyways, sorry for the long wait, but I've had school, then I had to take my girl out around town, you know, all that stuff.

Emily: And seeing as I can't type too well, it'd be a big mistake to let me type this chapter.

Jimmy: So anyways, Author has decided to split this battle in half.

Author: But now that we've gotten rid of the boring stuff, let's get right to the nonsensical and random-packed Afterthought that most of you actually read this story for!

Cindy: Alright, so I thought this chapter was a bit weird-

Jimmy: Why did I get thrown through a door?!

Cindy: -but some of the romance scenes were alright-

Jimmy: Why'd I get thrown through a door?!

Cindy: -and then there was the fact I nearly got killed by Jimmy during filming-

Jimmy: Why'd I get thrown through a door?!

Ninja-Dude: BECAUSE YOU'RE STUPID!

(Everyone stares as Ninja-Dude)

Ninja-Dude: Hello, my name is Craig, and I'm an alcoholic.

Everyone: Hi Craig...

Jimmy: Why'd I get thrown through a door?!

Shaojia: (Bashes Jimmy over the head with a steel chair) Because Author said so, that's why.

Author: Oh, and also physical comedy is the best kind of comedy.

Emily: Ugh, is it me or are the girls in this fic the only real sane ones?

Author: Trust me, it's you. It's always you.

Cindy: Anyways, next time, on Dragon Ball Z, uh, I mean Military Science...

Narrator from that one Japanese cartoon with the dragon and its, uh... magical... balls: Next time on, Military Science... Jimmy and Professor Calamitous sqaure off. But with Calamitous' forces outnumbering his 10 to 1 and Shaojia out of the fight, can Jimmy find a way to defeat Calamitous? Or will his inexperience lead to the death of eveyrone he loves? Next time on Inuyasha, er, this story that you're reading:

**The Mini-Boss: Part 2!**

Shaojia: We are so sued for stealing that...

Ninja-Dude: SO'S YOUR FACE!

Jimmy: I thought your catch-phrase was, "Because you're stupid?"

Ninja-Dude: Uh, er... So's your face is stupid... SHUT UP!

Jimmy: Ugh, well, at least none of us have been seriously injured this time around...

(20 ton weight falls on the Military Science gang)

Author: Jimmy, you're an idiot


	20. The Mini Boss Part 2: Boiling Point

**Chapter 20**

**The Mini-Boss (Part 2): Boiling Point**

**(Subtitles Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

**_SOUND EFFECTS_**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron**

* * *

_"Now I want you to remember that no bastard ever won a war by dying for his country. He won it by making the other poor dumb bastard die for his country." General George S. Patton_

* * *

Cindy sat on what used to be a bench outside of a Yolkian house as Jimmy suited up no farther than a foot away. He was calmer, now, back to his old self, dressing quietly and calculatively, so different from his attitude while in battle, which was harsh and cruel and blind to friend and foe. She shuddered at the recent memory of almost being cleaved in half by the one she held so dear. And yet, she loved both sides, for they were both Jimmy. 

She shook her head roughly to clear her thoughts. 'Whoa...' she muttered internally, 'Since when have I ever been this lovey-dovey?' She sighed as she reclined into the half bench, staring up at the green Yolkian sky, watching the smoke trails from artillery rounds streak past, some of them exploding prematurely and creating an amatuer fireworks spectacle.

She looked back over at Jimmy to see that he was now fully dressed in the combat armor, the armor's shape giving him a more muscular appearance though everyone knew the boy genius was never one to hit the gym. Still, Cindy's mind could not be blamed for wandering... Aside from the black armor, which was obviously the default color for Enforcer uniforms since Jimmy never specified a color, Jimmy wore a European rapier by his side and at his side was his elextroaxe. In his hands was the helmet, the most iconic thing about the entire armor suit.

"What do you think, Cindy, helmet on or off?" asked Jimmy as he turned the helmet this way and that. Like the standard issue Enforcer helmet Shaojia had worn at the beginning of this catastrophe, it had a T-shaped visor that gave the entire helmet an intimidating air. But at the same time, it sent a message of justice, as if the two wings of the T were the arms of a balanced scale. Again she shook her head, softly this time so as to not confuse Jimmy. She had to stop reading so much poetry; she was starting to read too deeply into stuff...

She looked at Jimmy, then back at the helmet. She shrugged. "It looks fine either way, I guess. I say on, because we wouldn't want you to lose that head of yours," she teased.

Jimmy smirked and put the helmet on the ground before moving over to Cindy. Cindy had a confused look on her face which turned to horror when Jimmy wiggled his fingers at her face before descending on her. Jimmy tickled Cindy's ribs, making the blonde laugh loudly, a deep contrast in comparison to the ambient artillery reports sounding off at random intervals.

They stopped, however, when they heard hoofs beating onto the dirt roads of the Yolkian town. Looking over to the direction the noise was coming from, they slowly parted from each other. Soon, a soldier on a horse rode towards them at rapid speeds. "Generals! Generals!" the soldier yelled as he approached them. When he was withing 5 feet of them, he pulled up to a stop and quickly dismounted, saluting towards them. "Generals, the enemy force has started their attack. They'll make contact with us in approximately 5 minutes." He pointed to the horse. "Here, take the horse, you must hurry!"

Jimmy nodded before looking over to Cindy. He slipped on the helmet, his face disappearing behind the black helmet and golden visor. He quickly mounted the horse, bringing his electroaxe with him, swinging it to his side for dramatic effect. Cindy looked at him, no longer a mere child but a strong young man in a suit of armor, headed to war. And she knew that his other side, his more violent side, the side which he had probably kept bottled up for years would soon reveal itself. And she could not help but feel even more attracted to this dangerous streak nor could she help feel a distinct feeling of acute fear.

She followed Jimmy, mounting the horse and sitting in the saddle right behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist to keep steady. Jimmy snapped the reins of the horse and the animal reared up onto its hind legs, whinnying before shooting off towards the battle. The walled city was now practically empty aside from the dead, the dying, the wounded, and the stragglers, all from a skirmish that saw chaos of every form. It was no battle. There could only be one battle per day. No, the real battle was at the northern gate, where the true mettle of the new N-12 Enforcer troops and their commanders will be tested.

* * *

Tian kept his solemn post overseeing the entire field of battle along with Shaojia and Meiling. Shaojia had allowed Meiling to help check him for injuries and was now sitting on a foldable steel chair one of the medics had brought up with him along with a first aid kit. Tian turned away from the sight of the preparing enemy force swiftly to check on his sworn brother. 

Shaojia was a little worse for wear, but otherwise fine. "Possibly a few bruised ribs, sir," the medic told Shaojia as he got back up. He then bowed to Meiling. "Milady, all he needs is a muscle relaxant to relieve him of minor aches, some intraglycocilin to bring his blood pressure lower to ease some of the pain in his chest, and of course some pain relievers."

Meiling nodded and opened up the med kit. The medic took that as his cue to leave. Meiling looked over to Shaojia who sat against the steel chair staring solemnly out towards the battlefield, bruises and scars very visible on his now unclothed chest. In particular, there was the surgery scar from where he had to have a kidney removed and replaced because of the injury from the other night. The scar practically radiated an angry red, as if it were about to reopen. Luckily, though, it stayed.

"A-Quanbei-di," Shaojia said to Tian who looked over slightly, "Has the battle started yet?"

Tian shook his head, "No, not yet. Thank the gods, too, Neutron isn't in position yet."

Meiling went over to Shaojia and told him to lift up his arms so she could wrap a constraint bandage around it to keep any fractured or loose bones from jiggling too much. She then stopped midway and pointed off somewhere. "Look, there he comes! Cindy's right behind him!"

All of them looked over to where Meiling was pointing. Indeed, there Jimmy rode in full armor, the most distinguishing feature being the electroaxe he wielded that unleashed a feeling of regality, of kingliness, and of barbaric savagery. Behind him on the saddle was Cindy wearing the same armor, only fit to a common female's physical attributes instead of a bulkier male's. Without her helmet, they spotted her right away.

Tian looked back over to where the armies were facing off. With Jimmy's soldiers in the front now, ready and eager for battle, they were the first line of defense stacked inbetween the two walls that bordered what used to be a gate, now just charred Yolkian wood fragments. They would have to use what was left of the walls as a type of barrier to prevent the robots from directly attacking their side flanks, but there was also the risk of a flank from behind if, and probably when, they simply levitated over them and attacked from behind.

The common sense thing to do then would be for the W-12 Enforcers to jump in and provide air support, all now armed with an automatic sidearm, a normal Tec-9 machine pistol with laser-sight to aid in aiming. It wasn't much, but when the main battle force finally arrived, the massive Yolktar army that rounded to perhaps somewhere around 100,000, but probably less now due to the inaccurate artillery strikes that were meant for the flying robots overshooting and striking the sea of black alien metal instead, creating pockets of destruction, there wouldn't be enough room to use them. Fortunately, now there were possibly only 98,500 Yolktars thanks to the extremely volatile nature in which Yolktars tended to explode, and considering how they were so closely packed into formation added with the rather explosive 108mm artillery shells, the numbers were possibly lower. Still, the Enforcer forces combined were still a bit outnumbered. You know, just a bit.

He looked back over to the South where he had the gunships rest instead of going out to attack the Yolktar army. That would have been stupid seeing as they had air support from the 600 strong flying robotic menaces. No, he and Shaojia had agreed to have handful of available craft from the _Fury of the Gods_ go on standby. At the start of the battle, they would summon them there, even the DCF-22 _Deity_ Multipurpose Attack Fighters. They had requested them downgraded, their nuclear ordinance replaced with anti-personnel Stinger missiles and 50 cal machine guns hastely attatched to the fighters, turning them back to their original form. However, the downgrade would take time, so they would arrive 30 minutes or more after the arrival of the ICG-77/Laat _Infiltrator_ Gunships, more of which were on their way as Jimmy got into position in front of his pitiful amount of Enforcers, about 25 or so from his universe. Sad indeed...

Tian sighed and looked over at Shaojia. "We're screwed, aren't we?"

* * *

Jimmy stared stoiclly at the hordes of Yolktars hovering at attention behind the impressive and massive amounts of robotic minions under Calamitous' control. Calamitous himself stood at the head of his army. He could just sense the professor's sneer, his ridiculing scoff at his force's small numbers compared to his own. 

Outside, though, he showed no emotion whatsoever as he steered his horse in front of his own soldiers, the 25 gathered men and women of N-12, 2 weeks ago formerlly known as simple boys and girls. Of course, there were only 2 girls in the small force but eh, semantics. They stacked the entire space inbetween the walls of the north gate, literally forming their own gate in place of the destroyed one. Behind them stood the 11,000 or so remaining W-12 Enforcers, a little worse for wear, but eager to get back to battle.

Yes, he looked cool and collected, but on the inside... 'Oh God, I'm gonna die, I'm gonna die!' Yeah, Jimmy wasn't so cool and collected on the inside. Internally, he was going to shreds, an inner turmoil that far surpassed that of the field of battle's. Internally, his mind raced at speeds faster than the speed of light.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder. He looked back and sighed internally when he saw Cindy smile at him. "Looks tough, huh?" Cindy murmured.

With a new air of confidence, Jimmy answered, "We've gotten through worse." He steered his horse so that it stood directly in front of his soldiers and dismounted, followed by Cindy. An aide ran over to lead the horse away at Jimmy's command. He turned to face his troops. He cleared his throat. 'If there ever was a time for a cliched pre-battle speech, now's the time,' he thought ruefully to himself. "Ahem, attention!"

The preteen soldiers of the 25-member N-12 Enforcer legion snapped to attention, mirroring a professional army's air of bravery and discipline. They all saluted Jimmy and Cindy. Out at the front of the formation were Nick, Butch, Sheen, and Libby, all dressed in the stylishly lethal armor suit Jimmy had created, minus their helmets which were held under their arms. Behind them were a great handful of some of their friends and classmates, all of their identities masked behind their Enforcer helmets.

Jimmy swallowed the lump in his throat and began. "I want you all to know that I am proud to have been able to know all of you. For all but 3 of you, this will be your first taste of war and if we hit the enemy hard enough, this will be our last for a long time." He then sighed. "I won't lie to you, though, I can't. The fact is, if we mess up, this battle will be our last... forever."

For a long time, he stared into the emotionless masks worn on his soldiers, as he was getting into a habit of calling them. The Enforcer helms covered what the young boys and 2 girls truly felt, whether it was stoic bravery and defiance or expected fear and despair. Again, he continued.

"It's time you hear about this, too," Jimmy said, shooting a slight glance at Cindy who looked back slightly confused. "I don't know whether or not our parents are even alive. I have hope, though, and I hope all of you do too. If we can destroy our enemy, then we can chase them all the way back to their capital and then rescue our parents." He sighed and they all knew what was next, the thesis on if worst has come to worst. "But if the worst has already happened, then we cannot do anything about it. It is not our fault, but it is our enemy's fault. Either way, let's teach the League of Villains what happens to people that messes with out families!"

The entire N-12 legion, a pitiful number of 25 soldiers plus all of their commanders which add up to be around 30, cheered loudly and seethed for victory, seeking it and praying for it. Cindy then broke the pre-battle celebrations with an ominous report. "Look, they're charging!"

Jimmy looked over to the north where the enemy was stacked. Cindy was right; the enemy was charging, the 600 robots kicking up dusts as they stampeded towards them, the Plasma Blades glowing a ghastly glow as they were waved this way and that. A voice caught Jimmy's attention and turned to see Brigadier General Hong say to him, "General Neutron, don't worry about the mechs if they start flying, my men will provide anti-air support!"

Jimmy nodded and motioned for Cindy to assimiliate with him into the line of soldiers that were under his command. Now, all 30 N-12 natives were packed inbetween a narrow pass, armed to the teeth with brand new technology. Jimmy held up his right wrist and tapped the activation key for the flamethrower. A small flame peeked out of the nozzle. He kneeled to get better aim. All around him, his soldiers did the same.

He then put his wrist down so that he could put on his helmet. He promptly brought his hand back up, then brought his left arm up into the air. He waited, calculated the distance between them and the enemy. '200 yards...' At the front of the enemy force, he saw Calamitous' distinctive red robot plating. They were getting closer now. '100 yards...' He could just see them, now, the most frightful sight anyone has ever seen from his universe. '50 yards... 25 yards... 10 yards...'

He brought his hand down to signal for the flame attack. "Attack!" With that, he activated the flamethrower. Simultaneously, the 30 N-12 natives attacked with their flamethrowers, spitting unearthly hot flame jets at their unfortunate foes. Bolts and metal could be heard popping and melting. Repulsor jets could be heard powering up as the front row of robots met their fiery demise. Soon, the repulsor lifts were being met with automatic pistol fire from behind the 30 N-12 Enforcers. With the skirmish behind them, the real battle had now begun.

* * *

Shaojia stared over the ramparts provided by the building he, Meiling, and Quanbei were standing on. The way Jimmy's army had gotten into position and attacked at the most precise moment was a masterpiece of military intelligence, of battlefield strategy, of battle sense. He watched as Calamitous dodged the first fire attack along with a few of his robots. Though the robots that had been able to flee from the first row were promptly shot down, Calamitous was able to escape. 

Now, the professor was no doubt attempting to rally his Yolktar army while his robot army attempted to flank the Enforcer forces from overhead. Fortunately, the 25-foot reach of the N-12 armor's flamethrower kept most of the robots at bay while the W-12 Enforcers kept any flying robots out of the sky.

But he knew that they wouldn't be able to hold them forever, though. He eyed the battle line carefully. As he suspected, only a few rows of robots remained, to keep up the impression that the entire army was attempting to push forward, while the rest had fled back to their commander to regroup.

As he continued to watch the battle, he felt a soft hand be put onto his now-armored shoulder. He looked over slightly to see Meiling with an excited expression on her face. "What is it?" he asked.

Meiling smiled and said, "If we can move our artillery to either side of the city, we can wait for the main enemy charge and catch them in a pincer maneuver!"

Shaojia nodded. He then turned to Quanbei. "Well, you heard her; let's move that artillery so we can catch them in the pincer maneuver."

Quanbei nodded. "I'll see to it, Da Ge."

"Send up a bugler and set up a line. I want the artillery to wait on my command," Shaojia said to Quanbei's retreating back.

With that, Shaojia and Meiling were now alone on the rooftop of the Yolkian building, overseeing a battle that they could not fight in. As they watched, the robotic lines were being melted, trimmed, and mutilated. Soon, they would be gone, and a brief respite will be given to the N-12 soldiers. A very brief respite.

* * *

Jimmy smirked behind his helmet as he watched the robotic hordes fall under the combined onslaught of his army. 30 N-12 children held their ground and destroyed a vast number of robots, which by Jimmy's calculation is approximately 100 enemy units. He stared intently at the end of his flamethrower's reach which was still able to melt down a retreating robot. 

"Stop! Hold your fire!" he yelled as soon as the last robot had cleared their attack range. "They've retreated, but they'll be back."

Cindy, from his right, shaded her eyes with her hands and attempted to see what they were doing on the far side. "Like now! They're going to charge again!"

Jimmy looked at Cindy briefly before looking back over to the enemy units. She was right; the remaining robots were leading the assault followed by the daunting hordes of Yolktar that seemed to consume the very earth they passed over, stretching as far as the eye could see. And undoubtedly, in the back of the entire attacking force was Calamitous, orchestrating the battle from a safe distance.

"Wait for it!" Jimmy ordered as he prepared the flamethrower again. '200 yards...' he counted off again to himself as he checked the fuel for his flamethrower. They could probably hold off for about another half of an hour of continuous fire, but there were so many of them, he wasn't even sure. '100 yards... 75 yards... 50 ya-'

"FIRE!" Jimmy turned around to look at where the voice had come from. A few of his soldiers had shot off a small, involuntary fire jet out of pure instinct based on the 4-letter word. He looked up to see Shaojia, standing with one knee prepped on top of a barrier rampart, overseeing the entire battle. Next to him was what looked like a bugler, who then blew a low-note, followed by similar low notes that grew fainter as it spread to each side of the base. Jimmy then heard the resounding artillery reports. He turned back around to see that artillery shells were now ripping into the still advancing enemy force, reducing their numbers by the tens with each connecting shell.

Jimmy looked back at Shaojia and the two shared a look. Nodding, they understood what to do next. Jimmy turned back around and reassumed his position. "Alright, fire!" Once again, 30 jets of molten hot flame shot out from the defending force, scorching the enemy line that was still advancing.

"82nd Regiment, pull back and proceed to flank from the left!" Shaojia said from his position. "73rd Regiment, pull back and proceed to flank from the right!"

In a joint operation, Jimmy then ordered, "Advance 5 steps! Try to push them back into the grinder!"

The artillery pounded into the enemy force on both flanks. Jimmy could see from his position the explosions that ripped apart the Yolktar hordes. He could tell there were now Yolktar casualties in the high hundreds, the Ripple Effect playing a major role in the battle as one shell took out 10 around the blast radius, which rippled outwards to vanquish several more until eventually losing strength or hitting an empty spot.

In the front, the robots were attempting to flee, but any attempts to do so were met with automatic pistol reports that served as an effective anti-air substitute against the robots' average metal plating that was no tougher than reinforced aluminum. The robots that attempted to flee on foot were usually pushed forward by the brainless Yolktar hordes which did not halt despite the beating they were taking from the artillery.

As the fire jets eroded and scorched the robot defensive front, Jimmy could tell that they were still advancing. There were just too many to hold back, now, but at least the number of robots were being reduced quite rapidly, the 25-foot jet of flames scorching 3 rows at a time. He gazed past the advancing robotic menace and towards the legions of Yolktar that were being massacred by artillery strikes.

They were an angry mass of black goo erupting into red flames. Nevertheless, they still charged, now actually pushing into the rear flank of the disintegrating robotic front. Suddenly, he saw the advance stop in its place and slowly retreat. His brow furrowed in confusion. Then, the robotic front began to retreat as well, the heat now pushing into its rear flank. He deactivated his flamethrower.

"Stop! Cease fire!" he yelled as he saw the overall retreat. "Hold positions!"

Cindy looked over to him, a fine sheen of sweat over her brow induced by the intense heat. "Why are they retreating?" she asked as she looked back over to the retreating robots and Yolktars that were now solely under pressure by artillery fire.

Jimmy took the time to analyze the situation. Calamitous had not been seen at all in the battle. He must have been in the back, calling the shots. But robots and Yolktars, all artificial beings, they're pretty much expendable. At some point, the flamethrowers must run dry, and then they would be vulnerable, though that may take hours, possbily turning the battle into something siege-like.

But now, the enemy force had stopped its retreat and has regrouped, just barely out of the range of the flamethrowers. Now, things were starting to get even more confusing. Calamitous had ordered a retreat to a point just outside of their range of attack, even though artillery shells continued to fall on them. Now, it looked as if they were preparing for another charge.

Then, something he didn't expect to happen. The robots kneeled down, like the first row of a line of musketeers to make firing room for the row behind them. Prepping their right arm attatchements by inputting some strange passcode, the arm then blossomed like a flower, a deadly flower that glowed a light blue.

Jimmy stared at the spectacle in amazement along with the others before he recognized the distinctive glow. EMP charge. They were going to shoot them with EMP charges, that would leave them completely vulnerable. They were going to make this a slaughter. Jimmy looked around them. They were out in the open. They have no choice.

"Retreat! Back to the gate before they shoot us with those EMPs!"

* * *

Shaojia stared stone-faced across the heads of the combined Enforcer forces. Jimmy's forces were outside of the fort now, having advanced from their easily defendable gate entrance to push back the enemy. Well, at least Jimmy had them retreat. But that still wouldn't stop the EMP charges. He too had recognized their distinctive glow, having seen them cripple capitol ships and advanced armies instantly. It would surely be a slaughter. 

He looked at his own men below him. They were ready. They were impatient. But they were tired. He sighed and closed his eyes. "Quanbei," he said, "how long until the rest of our air support arrives?"

Quanbei looked at the shadows cast by the sun. "About 10 more minutes."

Shaojia bowed his head. "Send the 108th to join the 82nd and have the 95th join the 73rd. Tell them not to attack until ordered. Just get them into position. Have Hong pull back our artillery and take command of the right flank. You'll take the left flank while I take command of our remaining forces and tried to push them up the middle."

Quanbei looked at him in shock as did Meiling who had been sitting idly by. "You can't be serious, Brother. What about your injuries?"

"I have my orders from the gods," Shaojia protested firmly. He looked over to the now re-positioned N-12 Enforcer force. "They must make it out alive. This may be Neutron's fight, but it is still also my objective." Turning to Quanbei, he firmly stated with a tone of finality. "That's an order. Now go! We don't have a lot of time left."

"What you're doing is suicide!" Quanbei protested.

"No, it's not." Shaojia looked over at the Yolkian sun. "I'll debrief you tonight. But can't you feel it? How often is it that the enemy sends one of its heads into battle? They're getting weaker now. If we win battle, we can pursue them all the way back to the capital and lay a heavy siege. We won't need that many troops either so we can send some of our boys home. Brigadier General Hong's 3rd Brigade has lost enough men as it is. Our boys can handle the rest of the war after we pull the 3rd Brigade out. But first, we have to win the battle."

Quanbei stood there for a moment before bowing and running off. Meiling approached. "You can't be serious."

Shaojia sighed as he put his hands on her shoulders. "They can't win this alone. There are too many of them and their main strategy, their main weapon, it's about to be destroyed. There's no way to avoid an EMP shell."

Meiling glared directly into his eyes. "I won't let you. You're hurt. You'll get yourself killed!"

"I won't," he said firmly. "I promise."

"Liar!" she screamed before ripping away from his hands.

"Enough," he said softly as he grabbed her again, a bit more firmly this time. "You know what I have to do. But I promise. After this war, I'll be going home. We can go anywhere you want. Paris. London. Sydney. Anywhere."

Meiling smiled up at him. "Anywhere?"

"Anywhere."

"The Forbidden City. I want to go to the Forbidden City."

Shaojia paused for a second and smiled. "Deal."

"Promise?" she asked again.

"Promise." He smiled at her before looking down at one of the many messengers he had ordered to be there in case of emergency. "Two of you, get a war drum and someone that knows how to play a bugle."

* * *

Cindy looked over at Jimmy as they stared back at the enemy force. The EMP charges lit up the entire line. "What are we going to do?" she asked. 

Jimmy stared at the magnificent orbs of paralyzing electrical currents as well. He looked into Cindy's eyes which brightly complimented them. "Wait. The EMP charges will probably knock us back a little, but we can't do much. Even if we tried to get out of the way, Calamitous probably has it set to heat-seaking, just like his missiles. He's not stupid. He planned for this."

Cindy looked down and scuffed her feet on the ground. "Tell me again."

Jimmy raised an eyebrow. "Tell you what again?"

Cindy blushed smiled slightly. "Just... one more time, before we all go out to fight."

Still, Jimmy was confused. "What do you mean?"

"Tell me... Tell me that you love me. Just one more time." Her eyes bore into his, a serene ocean making contact with strong earth.

Jimmy's eyes widened. "Cindy, we're not gonna die, alright? We'll be okay."

Cindy smiled softly. "Okay. But still. Just say it."

Jimmy smiled back. "Okay. Cindy Vortex, I-"

"INCOMING!" Nick yelled from nearby.

And with that single word, Cindy saw the transformation of Jimmy, from kind and gentle to harsh and brutal. "Hold your ground! No one backs away or the battle is lost!" He then glared at the rapidly speeding beams of blue light which crackled electricity. "Bow your heads! Don't look directly into it!"

The EMP charges hit them like fierce ocean waves on a wharf. They were all knocked flat on their backs and could not move as electricity continued to surge over them. Jimmy knew it was only temporary, but for 5 seconds, all he could see is the stampeding enemy force, mechanical armor gleaming angrily in the Yolkian sun, Plasma Blades shimmering in the ever-closing distance.

* * *

Shaojia clenched his teeth as the EMP hit the N-12 force, knocking them all back. He knew that the EMP couldn't have killed them, considering the armor still on top of them, but they were now very vulnerable to enemy forces. He looked over his shoulder back to the messenger he had sent to get the drum. "Messenger, sound the rapid advance." 

The messenger nodded. "Sir!" Picking up the large drum sticks, he proceeded to bang rapidly and loudly onto the upright drum, held on a stand like a gong. Below, Shaojia could see that the troops were looking in confusion. Then, they snapped to attention. 'Good,' he thought. 'They recognize it.'

He then turned to one of the few soldiers that could play a bugle. "10 minutes after the forces connect, sound for the air support we have to scramble." The bugler nodded and looked down at the bugle in his hand.

He looked over to Meiling who had her hands clasped over her chest. She now reminded him of the first day he had gone into the service. He repeated the words he said that day. "Don't worry. I'll be back. I promise." With that, he climbed over the ledge of the building and crouched to absorb the impact of the fall.

He looked over to his men who were looking back at him. He nodded. Drawing his sword, he pointed in the direction of the charging enemy force. With an ear-shattering scream, the central W-12 forces jumped into action, spears raised and ready, returning the stampede of the enemy.

He listened for the sounds of artillery. There were none. Instead, he heard the adjoining sounds of the left and right flank charges, preparing to catch the enemy in a pincer maneuver. 'Good,' he thought as he walked to the now-recovering N-12 line.

"Thought that you might need reinforcements," he said to Jimmy as he held out a hand.

Jimmy accepted it and pulled himself up with it. "Thanks. Now, let's win this fight." Turning to his own troops, Jimmy took off his helmets so that he could look them all in the eye. "Alright! For Retroville! Charge!!!" Holding his electrostaff up high, he proceeded to charge, running after and even starting to overtake some of the already charging W-12 forces as the clash between the Enforcers and the enemy came close to its initiation.

* * *

As Jimmy rushed forward, so too did his soldiers. Libby ran side-by-side alongside Nick and Cindy, but most importantly to her, Sheen was just a little bit in front of her and behind her, she could see the armored figure of her little brother T. Her feelings whirlpooled within her as she held the Chinese sabre, the dao, in her hands. This was the first real time she had ever held something like it. An odd sense of power came with it, along with a familiar sense of nervousness. Battle and war was something completely foreign to her. 

She looked ahead at Sheen who charged with a professional calm. No longer did he seem to be the manic and psychotic boy she had once known. Now, he was a man, a mature man with a life-long experience that shall last him to all his days. And she absolutely loved it. Still, she couldn't help but wonder if his thoughts had at all changed.

* * *

As his combat boots beat the Yolkian ground and his dao held in front of him, ready to attack, one thought continued to circle through Sheen's mind: 

_Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of Ultralord  
He is trampling on the faces of the people of planet Florg  
He hath loosed the fateful lightning of his awesome Ultrasword  
His cool is marching on! _

Glory, glory Ultralord!  
Glory, glory Ultralord!  
Glory, glory Ultralord!  
His cool is marching on!_

* * *

_Cindy tightened her grip on her battered dao, unsure if it will last much longer, but sincerely hoping. In the meantime, she had set her sights on Jimmy's back, which was growing farther and farther away as time passed, Shaojia right behind him, mingling into the mass of W-12 soldiers. Her fascination kept her running even as her legs began to feel like jello pudding. 

Trying to keep up, she wondered how Jimmy had gotten so fast, remembering how she would always embarass him by beating him to the Candy Bar, which according to the unspoken Retroville children's code, meant that the loser would have to pay for drinks. She had gotten so many free sundaes out of that.

The war had indeed changed them all, some physical, and some mental. Jimmy was faster, stronger, and tougher, but he was also crueler, more brutal, and more merciless. But off the field, he was the same boy she had come to hate and love back in Retroville. He was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde in a way, the acursed spell of war transforming him into a murderous beast and the blessed cure of peace reverting him to the young man she had fallen for.

She pushed onwards along with the others as the first sounds of battle came to her. Now, she no longer saw Jimmy. He was no doubt at the very front of the battle. The first to fight. Though never one to be exceptionally religious, she still prayed that he would be the last to fall as well

* * *

Meiling continued to clasp her hands over her heart. Tears began to well in her eyes as she watched the Enforcer armies charge the enemy force. Her heart beat faster underneath her palms as they grew closer and closer. She saw the distinctive red cape adorning the back of her guardian Shaojia. 

As mush as he hated it, she would always view him as her emperor. Subordinate to him, she felt insignificant compared to his lineage, but he has told her now that he loved her. Despite what she had felt in the past, what she still felt now even, she now felt of importance after the utterance of those three words.

Sword in hand, he and Jimmy were the blade of this massive sabre, powerful and strong. Yet this sabre had yet to be heated so it was brittle and could break at any second. She feared that should that happen, she would be helpless to do anything for Shaojia. Indebted to him since the day they first met, she could not help but feel bound to him, by love and by other mixed emotions.

Then, her heart ceased for a second as the first blades clashed, her love's with that of a cold, mechanical beast. She dropped to her knees and bent over the ledge as the sounds of battle echoed through out the ghost town the city had reverted back to. 'It has begun,' she thought as the messenger behind her continued to beat the war drum. The other waited for his signal, his signal to sound for the air support that they may so desperately need. It was a matter of time.

* * *

Jimmy leaped up when he was just a few feet from the first robots. Swinging his electroaxe downwards, he split the robotic victim straight down the middle before whipping the non-lethal end of it up and whacking an adjacent mechanical in the torso. Fighting his way through the hordes of robots, his electroaxe kept them at a reasonably safe distance. 

He could only feel an uncontrollable ferocity as he swung his electroaxe this way and that, hacking away at the robots that tried to get close enough for their Plasma Blades to reach him. With one swing, he beheaded 4 of the mechanical menaces before taking out an additional 4 with a rebound strike. As he kept good control of the battle, beheading, halving, quartering, amputating, and overall decimating any robot within his vicinity, his eyes shifted away from his opponents and over to his comrades.

Closest to him on his left, perhaps just a few yards away, was Shaojia. Skilled, experienced, and swift, Shaojia was simply stunning to watch as he took care of as many robots that were able to crowd around him. Now armed with a dao he had probably picked up from a matter generator, he attacked the hordes with what anyone may mistake to be glee. Kicking a robot into its comrade behind it, he jumped, kicking off of one to his left, and stabbed the one on his right in the head. Swinging around, he impaled the robots he had kicked first before kicking the one on his left again.

The robot treaded towards Jimmy slightly. Lifting his axe, he cleaved it in two. The two of them shared a look and nodded. He was about to turn his attention back to the battle at hand when he felt a terrible pain in his side. He had a sensation of vertigo as he felt his body leaving the ground before feeling a sense of... incredible pain as his body hit the ground.

He groaned as he got back to his feet as quickly as possible. 'What happened?' he contemplated as he looked for his electroaxe when he saw that it was now in the hands of one of Calamitous' forces. He charged at it, using his gauntlet knife to take out a couple of robots that were in the way.

The robot seemed to glare at him in defiance before swinging his former weapon at a soldier that had gotten too close while engaged with another robot. Then, it brought the axe to bear. As Jimmy charged, it swung at him. Ducking under the attack, Jimmy felt a surge of pure adrenaline rushing through his veins, pushing him to go faster and faster. The next few moments passed by like a blur.

Tackling the robot like a football player, he mounted it quickly before stabbing it in the chest again and again... and again... and again. He then felt hands pulling him off of the massacred robot torso. "Take it easy!" reproached Shaojia's voice before turning him around to face him. "Save it for the enemy. The ones that are still working." Handing him his electroaxe, he stated "And try not to drop it again," before running off to rejoin the fight.

Jimmy shook his head to clear his scrambled thoughts as the electroaxe was returned to his hands. The advance was going on without him, now, an apathetic machine pounding its way through another apathetic machine, one more literal than the other. He looked over at the decimated robot. He had really done a number on it. Power core converted into a chopping board, torso plate ripped open and sliced out, and battery acid leaking out of several gaps he had created, fulfilling the illusion of a human, mauled and massacred to the point of being unrecognizable as opposed to that of a nameless, heartless robot.

He looked back to the battle which had advanced without him. W-12 forces, now mingled with his own N-12 forces which have caught up with them, were halting the advance of the robot army and were quickly eliminating them. Then, at the front of the N-12 assault, he saw her, the one that could make him furious and love-struck at the very same time.

Cindy was fighting like he had never seen before, using her dao with mystic elegance in the midst of battle. The flash of her blade's steel reflected off of the metal of the robots as she cleaved them in half. Her style was like that of a river's flow, constant, ever-moving, entering each new technique in quick and liquid succession. Her blonde hair, tied in her signature pony-tail, wrapped itself around her, flowing just like the sword.

He rushed towards her part of the battle, eager to join her. With his electroaxe in hand, he surged forward, batting a robot out of the way before cleaving the one right behind Cindy. Pressing his back into her, he then saw what he would've seen if his mind was clearer. Cindy had fought so well that she had advanced on her own. She was surrounded, and now, so was he.

"Hey Cindy, nice to see you here," Jimmy joked as he gripped his electroaxe tightly in his hands, his knuckles turning white under his armored gauntlets.

Cindy smiled back in return, keeping her eyes focused on the robots that began to slowly strafe them as the battle ensued all around. "Well, I decided to go for a walk and found myself here." She spun her dao slightly to her side and prepped it to fend off the imminent attack.

They didn't have to wait long as the robots charged at them. Swinging his electroaxe horizontally, Jimmy mowed down half of his targets. Behind him, Cindy had a more difficult time. Because of the electromagnetic field of Jimmy's axe head plus its longer range capabilities, Jimmy had an easier time defeating and parrying against the robots. Cindy, on the other hand, had to be very careful or else her unaugmented dao blade would be sliced in half, and so would she.

Still, she was able to fend herself off reasonably well, using her flexibility to sneak past the robots' defenses and slice them in half. Ducking under the horizontal strike of one robot, she charged it with her dao until she had it impaled up to the hilt. Pulling out, she spun the blade to her side and jumped backwards into another robot, impaling it in the chest.

Meanwhile, Jimmy swung his electroaxe again, removing a robot's head from the its body. That didn't mean the mechanical was dead, though, as it continued to swing its Plasma Blade around, running frantically as well like a headless chicken. Jimmy put an end to that rather humorous spectacle as soon as it came into his attack range.

While Jimmy mopped up the rest of his attackers and the Enforcer soldiers ran past them, forcing the enemy army back even further, Cindy concentrated on her last attacker. It charged her with the hot, plasma weapon before swinging at her midsection. All she could do was hop backwards to avoid the swing, leaving her open to the combo-strike. On pure instinct, she blocked with the dao. As she had known all along and had tried to prevent for the duration of the battle, the sheer plasmic heat of the enemy weapon cut through the steel sword like a hot knife through butter. She felt a pain in her chest as the robot kicked her onto her back, position itself over her to finish her off with its own weapon.

Then, it stopped mid-strike. A knife protruded from its torso. The robot stumbled backwards before collapsing to the ground, disabled. She looked over to where Jimmy was to find him to be standing in a punching position with his other hand over the knife release button. That's her Jimmy. He had used the momentum of the punch coupled with the ejection of the knife to create a knife-bullet. 'Pretty resourceful,' she thought to herself as he walked over to her.

"Are you alright?" he asked in concern as he knelt beside her.

The Yolkian sun seemed to focus its rays behind Jimmy's helmeted face, creating a type of corona while he took off the helmet. Concerned blue eyes stared back at her. For a moment, she was speechless. She nodded. "I"m fine." She continued to stare at him, even as Enforcer troop transports flew overhead, fire erupting from them as they lay down a heavy fire.

* * *

Meiling stood dangerously close to the edge of the building overseeing the battle as it raged on. The bugler behind her continued to sound the alarm to scramble the attack transports, a repetitive, rapid burst of bugle notes that sent planes into action and carried throughout the destroyed city. 

The messenger that had become the de facto drummer walked over to her. Half-kowtowing, he said, "Milady, you should step away from the edge."

Meiling nodded and backed away slowly. Turning to the messenger, she asked, "Can you please bring me an air force radio? I want to hear what's happening, even if it is just in the skies."

The messenger bowed deeper and got up. "Of course, milady. As you wish." With that, he went off to fetch the radio.

Meiling continued to watch the battle raging on as the bugler began to lessen his playing. "How much longer until the fighters get here?"

He kowtowed. "I apologize, milady, but I do not know." At that moment, an entire swarm of _Deity-_class Enforcer jet fighters blocked out the sun. "Nevermind..."

* * *

"Hey Radar, this is Groundscorcher, how do you read me?" asked 15-year-old Major Jiang Cao. Officially known as Echo-1, leader of Echo Squadron, in the air and on the ground, he is known by his fellow pilots as Groundscorcher for his adeptness at ground bombing, able to hit an ant with a Hellfire missile from 32,000 feet in the air, or so mess hall talk says. And then, there's his general love of explosives... 

"I read you Five-by-Five Groundscorcher. Looks like you're gonna have a fun day today; all ground hostiles. Hope you packed heavy." That was his friend and comrade Major Tai Liu, officially known as Delta-1, but also known to his comrades as Radar half for the time when his plane's radar was jammed due to weather conditions, he still detected enemy locations and missiles with almost pinpoint accuracy. The other half was because they'd run out of good names for pilots.

"I always do, Radar."

"Cut the chatter and keep frosty. Delta-1, tighten up your squadrons formation. Echo-1, form up on Delta's six o'clock. Then there was Group Commander Zhao Feng, known by the brass as Alpha-1, but known by everyone else as Iron Sights for his deadly accuracy with the machine gun which almost no one used anymore. Also because he was a general hard-ass, but that's another story. "The rest of ya', keep in formation."

"Yes sir. Delta Squadron, form up, keep it tight!" Behind him, the other 6 fighters of Delta Squadron formed up in a tight V-shaped formation behind him with him as the tip. To the right of them, elongating the overall V created by the entire figher group was Echo Squadron, now mirroring the other side with Alpha Squadron at the tip, Bravo on its left and Charlie on Bravo's.

From Radar's 7 o'clock, Delta-3, his little brother Tai Huo said, "Holy Hell, do you guys see that?"

"See what?" Iron Sights asked.

"Down there, on Vector Zero-Zero-Five. That city... weren't our boys supposed to have passed through there?" They all looked downwards and saw the city, or what was supposed to have been a city. Flames and smoke rushed up to meet them, spiralling and swirling, intermingling with the atmosphere.

"They were. Iron Sights, orders sir?" Groundscorcher replied.

"Maintain current heading," stated Iron Sights. "We have our orders. His Holiness has a reason for sending for air support in a primarily ground invasion." The battle group of

"Wait," Shamrock, AKA Bravo-1, said, "on Vector Zero-Eight-Zero... Hostiles... thousands of 'em... By the gods, they outnumber our forces at least 200-to-1!"

"Detecting multiple friendly air units," added Charlie-1, Jackal. "It's Tailgunner's S&T support choppers, laying down air support! How about we join in on the action, Iron Sights?"

"Acknowledged. 200-to-1, eh? Sounds like a fair fight, then. Squadron leaders, sound off. Alpha-1, standing by."

"Bravo-1, standing by."

"Charlie-1, standing by."

"Delta-1, standing by."

"Echo-1, standing by."

Iron Sights checked his HUD or Heads-Up-Display. They were approximately 20 seconds away from missile and machine gun range from the main enemy army. "All fighters, break into attack formation! We're going to show them just what they get for messing with the Enforcers. Let's go, Blue Wing." Iron Sights then looked directly to his 9 o'clock. "Shadow Creeper, how's Gold Wing?"

"Same as yours, Iron Sights," replied Shadow Creeper, the Alpha-1 of Gold Wing. "I'll alert the rest of Gold. Looks like Bravo Group is finally gonna see some action!"

* * *

"Grand General, our air support is pushing back the enemy advance!" reported Major Min Lo who had taken the place of Colonel Yang who had died in the first skirmish. 

Shaojia nodded as he hacked down the last robot in his range. "Good. Spread the word. We have to reform our ranks." The major nodded and ran off. Shaojia looked around as the enemy showed the slightest inkling of retreat. "Stand your ground! Don't let them take a step forward!"

He looked up in the air as the sound of dual 50 calibur chain guns firing a stream of depleted uranium slugs could no longer be blocked out. About 20 to 30 or so _Infiltrator-_class aircraft, normally used for quick infiltration and exfiltration, were now laying down a heavy rain of deadly lead into robot and Yolktar alike.

He looked at his surroundings. All around him, there were robot parts, weapons, the injured, and of course the dead. No time for them, though. He looked at one soldier nearby and then back at the slowly retreating and decreasing enemy force. Satisfied that there was enough distance between them that he didn't have to watch his back, he walked over to the soldier.

The Enforcer was no older than him, maybe even a little younger. And that made it even worse. He was just a boy. Barely even hit puberty, he bet. He was missing an arm and was bleeding out profusely, no doubt a victim of the robots' blade-weapon. He'd seen weapons like that before, deadly and nearly unstoppable through conventional means.

"What's your name, soldier?" he asked as he kneeled down slightly.

The soldier's eyes wavered as they tried to focus on him. He'd been there for a long time, then, bleeding for a while. "Corporal... Corporal Chen, sir..."

"Focus, Corporal. Do you know who I am?"

The corporal's eyes focused as much as they could, staring either at Shaojia or at a spot behind him. Eventually, the soldier's mind clicked. He rolled over onto his knees and touched his head to the ground. "My lord..."

Shaojia bit back his irritation. The war had gone on long enough. He knew it. Quanbei now knew it. And sooner or later, Jimmy wil know it too. But right now, in the middle of the blood and oil stained battlefield, while the rest of his troops are reforming and getting ready for the next assault, he had to finish up with this dying soldier.

The soldier reached into his armor and held something out in front of him, keeping his head touching the ground. "Milord, General... if I can trouble you-"

"You've fought hard, soldier, with the rest of this division. What do you need?" Shaojia looked at the soldier's outstretched hand.

The soldier opened it to reveal a small locket. "Please, give this back to my lovely Dai... I'm all she has... Please, it'll... it'll..."

Shaojia heard footsteps behind him. A skeleton crew, right on time. Per proper Enforcer protocol, they were now scoping the battlefield as the army moved forward a bit so they could retrieve the dying, the dead, and the wounded. A medic kowtowed. "Sir, sorry to interrupt, but-"

Shaojia nodded and looked over to the soldier. He closed the soldier's hand which had gone stiff. Rigor Mortis shouldn't have set in that quickly, but the adrenaline may have sped it up. "Do me a favor..." He looked at the medic's shoulder insignia. "Sergeant. Look up this man's records and get his girl that locket back. A Dying Man's Wish, Etiquette Protocol 42, right?"

The medic nodded. "Yes sir."

Shaojia looked ahead. The army had started to move up with the _Infiltrators_ hovering at a very low altitude, acting as a type of deadly shield wall, keeping the enemy at bay all the while cutting them down into bits of shrapnel. He looked over and found who he was looking for, a radio trooper. "Hey, you! Hail one of those transports and have 'em spread the word! I want them to touch down but keep up the suprressing fire. Medics are gonna load everything that they can onto 'em and once their barrels run dry, I want them to run CASEVAC duty!" The soldier saluted and went to his order.

A deafening roar was heard just then. Almost everyone looked up, minus the medics who were hard at work saving who they could. The W-12-style _Deity-_class attack fighters, a modified pervesion of the F-22 Raptors, were now passing overhead, all 70 fighters of the air force unit Bravo Group. It wasn't long before the eerie _swoosh_ of missiles were heard and the first fissures permeated the ground, shockwaves sending some troops off balance.

He looked back over to the medics who were now covering Corporal Chen with a white tarp. He closed his eyes and went over to the corpse. Lifting the tarp slightly, he patted the corpse down slightly until he found what he was looking for, the dog tags that every Enforcer, regardless of armor, had to have on his person at all times. Chen had chosen to leave it around his neck and it was underneath his armor plate.

Shaojia looked at the tags and deposited them in a pouch by his waist that he usually kept them. So far, he had collected over 50. He closed his eyes in quiet contemplation as the medics recovered Chen and moved on to another soldier. "Soon, it'll all be over soon."

"What do you mean?"

He looked over and saw Jimmy and Cindy walking his way. "The war. Can't you tell? Can't you feel it?"

"Feel what?" Jimmy asked as he took off his helmet to reveal his confused expression. "All I feel are the minor tectonic disturbances those missiles are creating."

"Victory," Shaojia said as he looked up into the sky. "Your friend Calamitous is at his last ropes. It won't be long now."

"How are you so sure?" Cindy asked as she looked through the gaps of his troops' formations and saw that there were still a large amount of robots, though that number was slowly dwindling by the second, via bombardment or the waves of depleted uranium slugs crashing at them. They were down to at least 100 and counting. But behind them was the wall of intimidating Yolktars, still over tens of thousands strong. "He's still got an army out there."

Shaojia looked over at Jimmy. "Not for long he won't. Jimmy, do the math. An exploding Yolktar kills about 10 others around it which ripple out to kill more, but let's just stop at say 30. Each of the 70 air support fighters I called in are armed with 4 XGAM air-to-ground missiles. In one volley, how many can they destroy?"

Immediately, Jimmy had the answer. "8,400 per volley. And if my prior knowledge of missile reloading aboard airplanes is correct, it should take no longer than maybe 20 seconds, porbably less, for a fighter to rearm, so that means it can fire thrice a minute which equals to 25,200 kills a minute."

Shaojia paused a moment to check the math himself. "That's right." Cindy said before he even got past the first few numbers. "They'll be decimated in under 4 minutes!"

"Calamitous is at his last ropes," Jimmy said. "He has to know this."

That was when they heard it, a terrible, terrible explosion rippling through the air as one of the 70 aircraft burst into flames. Shaojia looked over to Jimmy. "If he didn't before, he does now. Now, he's more dangerous than ever. Come on, we have to get back to the fight!" With that, they rushed back to the front of the formation.

* * *

"The Hell was that?!" Groundscorcher yelled in panic as he banked his craft hard to avoid the blue beam of light that took out his wingman who was ironically nicknamed Dodger. "That bastard just took out Echo-2!" 

"I don't know, but stay the Hell away from its line of fire!" ordered Iron Sights. "Alpha-1 Fox-2!" he said as he fired some of his XGAMs at the red robot from which the blue light was emitted. The missiles were simply blasted out of the atmosphere by a second blue beam that also scorched a small nip of Iron Sight's right wing. "Shit! It grazed me!"

"Maybe you should listen to your own advice, Iron Sights," Radar said as he barrel rolled and made a High-G turn. "Recommend we turn our attention back to the giant sea of rotten eggs."

"Understood, all fighters, do not engage the red mechanical unless ordered," said Iron Sights. "Delta Squadron, assume attack formation Charlie-6 and wipe out the rest of those metallics while the rest of us focus on the eggs."

"Yes sir!"

There was more COM silence as the other planes of Blue Wing broke into attack formation and strafed the ranks of black yolk eggs. Then, Iron Sights got a transmission from his Gold Wing counterpart, Shadow Creeper. "Iron Sights, I got a transmission from ground force... It's Grand General Wang."

Iron Sights was dumbfounded for a split second. "Patch it through."

"Commanders?"

"Sir!" they both replied.

"What the Hell just happened?"

"Sir," Iron Sights answered, "one of my planes, Echo-2, just got blown straight to Hell by a direct hit from a red robot. It fired some type of energy beam at it and turned it into shrapnel. Took out some missiles with it too and grazed my wing. I am picking up 10 percent structural damage because of it."

There was silence. "Commanders?" A new voice. Iron Sights and Shadow Creeper looked at each other from across the skies, cockpit to cockpit. "This is Grand General Jimmy Neutron. Are you sure that robot was red?"

"Affirmative, General; as red as blood."

"Alright, you are not to engage that robot under any circumstances. I don't want to risk any more of you getting shot down. Finish up what you were here for or until you run out of ammo and head back to base. And I'm sorry for your loss, Commander."

Iron Sights closed his eyes. 'Not very often we get a general that doesn't think we're a bunch of statistics.' "Thank you sir. I've already informed my squadron." That was when another thunderous boom was heard. Iron Sights checked his surroundings and saw the IFF tag identify the cloud of molten slag as what had once been Charlie-4 before fading away.

* * *

Jimmy sighed as he put the radio back on its holster. "Thanks," he said to the radio trooper who saluted and fell back into his ranks. He looked around the still-firing dropships and at the dwindling robot line which had gone from 100 to 75 and then to 50. Due to their programming, there was nothing they could do either without further instructions. Since their last order was to stay put and keep in formation, that was what they did. They were literally sitting ducks. 

He then looked for his own soldiers. He found his friends and closest comrades nearby, all alive and well; Sheen, Libby, Nick, Butch, and then behind Libby was her brother T who he had talked with on occasion. He then walked over to Nick who straightened up a little. "General," he said, half-respectfully and half-normally, with the slight hint of cool contempt.

Jimmy nodded. "Nick, did we suffer any casualties?" Nick tensed a little bit. He wetted his lips slightly and swallowed a lump in his throats. Jimmy's eyes widened. 'No...' His heart dropped to the pits of his stomach. "Who?"

Nick sighed and reached into his pocket to retrieve something. He pulled out a dog tag. Jimmy's mind instantly traveled and recalled that he possessed his own tag which hung around his neck as if it had been there his entire life. In the time it took for Nick to hand Jimmy the fallen soldier's tags, it felt as if he had relived his entire life and then some. Jimmy read the letters and numbers on the tag.

**Tanners, Marcus A.  
555-08-352  
Type AB  
Roman Catholic **

Jimmy searched his extensive memory at the name on the dog tags and remembered him as Mark, the kid that always shot spitballs at Principal Willoughby during lunch when they were in 3rd Grade. He vaguely remembered him, but the fact that he had remembered him, knew him, and had ordered him into combat and to his death was more than enough of a shock. And he was only 12. Just like him. 

He dropped the tags abruptly back into Nick's hand. He couldn't breathe. Cindy walked over to him. "Are you... Are you okay, Jimmy?"

Jimmy shook his head as his eyes bore into the ground in front of him. "I killed him..." he whispered so quietly, he barely even heard himself. "I killed him..."

Shaojia caught that one. He looked over at the dropships that were now beginning to be loaded up with the wounded and some of the dead whom were wrapped in tarps. "Look, it's just one person. He knew the risks. He couldn't have asked for a better death. He died fighting, for his family and for his universe."

Jimmy refused to listen, however. Something primal ripped open in him. A hot fury boiled in his veins. He looked at the electroaxe in his hands and remembered what he had done to the forces of the Yolkian general a few nights ago. He took off his helmet and removed its trinium power cell, a small battery that could power the city of New York for a month. He did the proper mid-battle modifications. The head of his electroaxe pulsed a deadly white energy.

Shaojia, Cindy, and now the others around Jimmy became aware of his deteriorating peace of mind. "Calm down, Jimmy. It's okay," Cindy attempted to soothe as her heart clenched at the sight of Jimmy's sudden descent. The electroaxe continued to glow, arcs of lightning pulsing off of it.

He turned around to face the battlefield. By now, several of the dropships had been fully loaded, depleted their ammunition, and had flown back to the medical outpost that had been moved around the damaged northern gate of the destroyed city. The ones that were still there were in the process of doing so. Now, only 4 dropships remained. Over the enemy army, the 68-strong fighter group was still continuing its bombardment when another beam of blue energy crackled through the sky and destroyed the wing of one of the fighters, sending it into an uncontrollable barrel roll into the hordes of Yolktars. The second it made contact, it exploded along with every single one of the missiles still in its bays. The explosion rippled and may have even taken out hundreds of the surrounding Yolktars.

He swung the electroaxe into the ready position behind his back. "And where do you think you're going?" Libby asked as she stepped out of rank.

"To battle," was his only answer as his voice lost its malice, replaced my a disturbing calm as his chest heaved up and down.

Cindy steeled her resolve. "Alright." She turned around to face the troops. "Everyone, prepare to-"

"No," Jimmy said, silencing her. "I'm going in to fight Calamitous."

It was then that Shaojia recognized that malice. That determination. That hate. That bravery. It was the kindred warrior spirit that every Chosen Warrior carried. He had it, the Enforcer leaders of every other universe had it, and Jimmy had it as well. This was the critical moment of Jimmy's maturation and transformation into a true Enforcer. This was his boiling point where he had been pushed to the limit and then some.

Cindy was about to protest when Shaojia held up his hand. "You're sure about this?" he said to Jimmy.

Jimmy could only nod. Cindy turned to Shaojia and then turned back to Jimmy. "You can't be serious?" Their dead-pan expressions were her answer. "You'll get killed!"

Shaojia could only recall however many times he heard that very same expression from Meiling. The Purge of the Trog-Noks in S-2 came to mind, where he played a very minor role but a role nonetheless in what had to be one of the closest examples of near-Apocolyptical annihilation of the realms.

"I won't," Jimmy said as he turned back to the enemy force. He walked forward with the determination of a dead man and a leader as another dropship left the battlefield, ferrying away a few bodies of the wounded and the dead. He paused to look at them and then back at the enemy. "CALAMITOUS! Come here and face me!" he roared, his throat starting to hurt afterwards, his voice echoing across the barren battlefield. He continued forward until he was only aabout 10 yards away from the front of the Yolktar army.

For a long time, all he was met with were the cold, blank stares of the Yolktar army, the robot army down to all but one single robot, maybe another one somewhere away from Jimmy's quickly narrowing peripheral vision as it slowly gave way to rage. Then, a voice: "Neutron, always the impatient one, I see."

Jimmy looked up quickly and saw Calamitous in his robot suit. His anger quickly heightened. "Come down here and fight me!"

He could just feel the mocking raised eyebrow Calamitous held behind the safety of his suit. "Now why would I do that? Tell me, Neutron, whatever happened to that weak little scientist you once were? What happened to itty-bitty Neutron?"

Jimmy simply made what seemed to be a growl in the back of his throat as his eyes locked onto Calamitous like a missile launching system. "You killed one of my people!"

Calamitous continued to play the game of psychological cat-and-mouse and right now, he was the cat. "Did I? I didn't order them into live combat after only a week or so of training. I didn't give them a nice little pep talk. I wasn't even near the battle. I was just an old man coordinating the attacks, so what makes you think I killed him?"

That was when Jimmy finally snapped. All the pent of agression through the war and through at least half of his life through teasing, that one time he hadn't eaten in days because he had been working on a new invention and his dad ate his last Lunchables, it all culminated to a boiling point and everyone could see it. In his anger, Jimmy launched himself upwards, about 3 feet off the ground, and swung his axe.

Calamitous met his swing with a swing of his own. Sparks flew as the two blades of nearly pure energy crackled in midair. The Enforcers all felt a surge go through their spine as the second connected, followed by the next as Jimmy's swings became more ferocious and aimed closer towards the head.

Jimmy swung at Calamitous' legs. Jumping over him, the scientist in the robot suit retaliated with a backwards swing to Jimmy's head. He dropped himself to the ground to avoid the strike, then rolled over to his right to avoid the second which left Calamitous' blade impaled into the ground halfway up the blade.

Rolling to his feet, Jimmy swung his axe downwards at Calamitous while he was still stuck inside the ground. He jumped backwards to avoid the attack and threw a handful of dirt into Jimmy's exposed eyes. Jimmy stumbled backwards, dropping his axe as his eyes flew up to his eyes in pain.

"Jimmy!" Cindy yelled out and made a run to help him before Shaojia's hand grabbed her arm.

"This is his fight," he tried to reason. "He can do this."

She looked back to the fight, teeth clenched, heart pounding as her eyes began to become glazy. "Please be safe..."

Capitalizing on his unfair advantage, Calamitous extracted his blade from the ground and charged Jimmy. His vision now beginning to clear up, Jimmy stepped to the side, narrowly dodging as the Plasma Blade flew right past him, Calamitous ending up stabbing at thin air.

Grabbing the robot suit by the arm, punched Calamitous's robot suit square in the chest as he couldn't reach his head. The attack knocked Calamitous back a few steps, the attack to the suit's chest in reality being an attack near Calamitous' head, causing a pain similar to that of someone banging on a garbage can while you were still in there. Meanwhile, Jimmy reeled backwards as well, gritting in pain as he shook off the sting of his hand, though gauntlented, striking sheer metal at full force.

As soon as both combatants recovered, their eyes fell onto the shimmering light cast off by the Plasma Blade Calamitous had dropped along with the electroaxe Jimmy had dropped, each closer to their owner's opponent. Dashing towards the Plasma Blade while Calamitous did the same towards the electroaxe, Jimmy's mind fell upon the knife that used to be bolted onto the top of his right gauntlet which he had put into a small knife compartment/sheath he had asked to be designed into the armor as well.

After dispatching the robot that would have dispatched Cindy, he didn't have the time or the focus to slip the dagger back into its proper holster in his right gauntlet, above the flamethrower. He had imagined the same thing possibly happening as well when he was designing the suit, so he had designed a small knife holster on the outside of his right thigh, 3 inches below the pelvis.

He thought fast. Gone from him was the fact that he had never killed anyone before. Gone from him was the fact that he had horrible aim. And gone from him was the fact that he was no longer just a scientist. His soldier spirit, which now harbored within him a fiery anger and determination, voided the facts that had left him. With almost pinpoint aim, he drew the knife from its sheath on his thigh and threw the 5 inch steel blade at Calamitous's head. Not the mechanical head, mind you, but where Jimmy imagined his real head was, somewhere in the upper part of the robot suit's torso.

The suit jerked once, then twice, turning its back to Jimmy. Still running full speed, Jimmy grabbed the dropped Plasma Blade and force it through the back metal plating of Calamitous' suit. Time seemed to freeze. The blade impaled the suit around the spine area. The robot suit did not move. Instead, it simply stood there as the discharge from the blade began to circuit its way through the robot giving off a slight discharge that electrocuted anything still alive inside the suit for a second or two.

Then, time resumed. Jimmy extracted the Plasma Blade from Calamitous and threw it far from him as his senses returned. The robot suit that had belonged to Calamitous dropped to its knees and fell to the ground onto its front, pushing the knife that was embedded into it even deeper. Shaojia and Cindy approached cautiously while the other Enforcers stayed in file. Above the heads of the oblivious Yolktars, the now 67-fighter strong Bravo Group continued to blow the hordes of Yolktars, which now stood in the lower tens of thousands, into tiny pieces of shrapnel.

As Shaojia went to the robot suit, Cindy walked over to Jimmy. "Jimmy?" she asked. Over a little ways away, Shaojia had called for a radio soldier and asked for him to call General Tian and Brigadier General Hong over to his position and have their troops form a joint vanguard in front of his troops formation, which would effectively cut off the visual sight of Jimmy's friends and comrades seeing him as his former personality returned and tore at his latter personality.

Jimmy didn't respond to Cindy's voice as his eyes began to go blank, becoming unfocused. Cindy couldn't even begin to decipher what was going on in his mind as he stood there, staring at Calamitous' robot suit. It wasn't long before General Tian and Brigadier General Hong made their way to Shaojia, mounted on horses. The three began to help roll the suit over.

"Jimmy?" Cindy called out again as she positioned herself in front of him. Still, there was no response, just a blank, empty stare with no depth and no emotion. With a sudden burst oif rage, she slapped him. "Snap out of it!" That caught the attention of the 3 generals who afterwards just shrugged and began to peel back the plates of metal that protected Calamitous, to an extent it seemed.

The slap brought Jimmy fully back to his senses. "What was that for?" he said softly as he rubbed his cheek.

Cindy smiled, teary eyed, and embraced him tightly, placing her head against his armored chest, the cold metal feeling oddly soothing. "I thought I lost you."

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I thought I lost you to yourself. Your other self. I was worried." She looked up into his eyes, still slightly red from when Calamitous threw sand into his eyes. "Are you alright?" she asked as her hands began to move up to his face.

"Yeah," he muttered. "I'm fine." He looked over to Calamitous' suit which the generals had finished opening and were now waving their hands in front of their noses as smoke began to seep out of the suit's interior. "Calamitous... is he..."

Shaojia looked over and nodded. "Deader than Elvis," he replied holding the knife that Jimmy had used to throw at Calamitous. "I believe this is yours."

Jimmy looked at the knife numbly before stiffly nodding and accepting the blade which was slightly charred and stained with crimson blood. He swallowed slightly before sheathing the knife with a cool that took all of his concentration to focus on keeping, lest he yelp in nervousness and dropped the blade.

Jimmy walked over to the robotic suit Calamitous had once owned and forced himself to look at the corpse. Charred and slightly blackened, there were two openings in Calamitous, one from where the blade had stabbed his forehead and one from where the Plasma Blade had impaled him from behind. He closed his eyes and sighed before using his foot to close one half of the open robot suit's torso.

He felt Cindy wrapping her arms around him again and nodded before leading them back to the main force. He paused a little and then walked back towards the battlefield. Retrieving his electroaxe from its place on the dirt, he looked back to the corpse and instantly averted his eyes before walking back to camp.

Meanwhile, Shaojia and General Tian looked at the corpse before looking at each other while Hong kept the men in line. "Damn," Shaojia commented as he inspected where the knife had penetrated the former scientist's forehead. "I remember when he barely hit the target on the firing range. Now, he's throwing knives and killing maniac scientists." He wiped away an imaginary tear. "I'm so proud."

Tian scoffed as he closed the other part of the torso plate. "Yeah, yeah, come on, brother. We better get this body to the Imperial City for soul harvesting and incarceration right away. It's starting to smell anyways."

Shaojia scoffed as well. "Eh, let the medics do it after they do their full sweep. Just tag the stiff for 'em."

"And the men?" Tian asked.

"Have them hunker down for about 30 minutes while I take care of something," Shaojia said. "Mind if I borrow your horse?"

"Take it," Tian said before sitting down on the robot suit and taking off his general's helmet. He wiped a fine sheen of sweat off his head. "Damn, it's 4 o'clock already?"

"Around there," Shaojia said before getting onto the horse and galloping back towards the destroyed city. Tian shook his head as he looked over at the Yolktar army slowly being decimated.

* * *

It didn't take long for Shaojia to enter the city once more. Immediately he saw who he was looking for, standing on the roof of the building he had left her on. He stopped at the base of the building and got off. He made his way through the stairwell and was intercepted by a pair of arms and a small mass the nearly through him back down the stairs. 

"You're back!" Meiling cried as she pushed herself tighter against him. "I missed you."

Shaojia chuckled slightly. "I was only gone for about an hour." Meiling smiled before yawning a little which attracted his attention. "Tired?"

"A little," she said shyly.

"Come on," he said before picking her up and carrying her up the stairs. He brought her over to the edge of the building and sat down with her in his lap. "It won't be long now."

"What won't be long?" Meiling asked as she laid her head against his armored chest, warmed and baked to a comfortable heat by the Yolkian sun.

"This war," Shaojia answered. He stared out towards his army. The Enforcers, W-12 and N-12 both, were hunkering down and preparing for a well deserved rest after a hard-fought battle. "Soon, very soon."

"How do you know?" she asked.

"You didn't see?" he asked as he looked over. He found what he was looking for, Quanbei and Hong hanging around the front of the army and not far from them was the improvised casket of Calamitous, his very own robot suit. "Jimmy killed one of his enemies, a scientist. There goes the brains, so the power and money can't be handled appropriately. Nope, not long now." He lounged back against a small structure that jutted out of the roof.

Meiling lounged along with him, curling up as close to him as possible as the Yolkian sun shined dully at them. Dusk would be in two hours. "So what do we do until then?"

"Well tonight," he replied, "we're gonna have a little talk. I think Jimmy's finally ready."

"But until then?"

"Lunch. I'm starved."

Footsteps pounded on the staircase behind them and the two turned to see who was coming. It was Tian Quanbei and he had a pale look on his face as he reached the top of the stairs. In his hand was a walkie-talkie hand radio. "We got trouble."

* * *

Jimmy just sat in the shade of the tent that had been set up for him by Shaojia's men as he sipped lightly on one of the old Retroville Purple Flirps. The company may have gone out of business several months ago, but thanks to the (literally) heavenly powers of Enforcer technology, their premeir product had been revived, at least for now. 

His mind continued to go back to the battle with Calamitous. 'I can't believe it,' he thought, which was one of the thoughts that ran through his mind the entire time after the battle's end; well, the end for him anyways. Bravo Group was sweeping up the rest of the Yolktars and until they did, the battle technically wasn't over yet.

'He's dead. I killed him.' That was the other thought that ran through his head after the battle. Shocked, scared, and speechless, he had barely said a word after he retreated to the camp. Cindy had advised everyone to stay away from him until she had a chance to speak with him, which he more than thanked her for.

"Hey..." Jimmy glanced up and at the entrance of the tent. Cindy was standing there, still in full combat armor, with a plate of finger sandwiches in her hands. "I brought us both something to eat. Thought you might be hungry."

Jimmy nodded. He still hadn't said anything after he had retreated to the tent, positioned just outside the medical camp along with the other officer's quarters as the main army did as they pleased in their given area, some playing games, others talking, others preferring to sleep.

"Still not talking, huh?" Cindy whispered softly. She sat down softly next to him and scooted over so that they were almost touching. She put the plate in front of them both and said, "Well, I guess we should start eating."

Cindy barely lifted her hand to reach for the sandwich when Jimmy's voice broke out. "Do you hate me for what I did?"

She looked over at him incredulously. "For what? For killing Professor Calamitous? If you hadn't killed him, I... I might of. Him and the rest of the people like him, all of our enemies, Goobot, Eustace, all of them, they just make me so mad! They just won't leave us alone." Her voice dropped to barely a whisper. "They won't leave you alone."

Jimmy bowed his head slightly then cupped Cindy's chin in his palm. "But did you think there was another way? Some way that I didn't have to kill him? Some way where I wouldn't feel like this?"

"Feel like what?" Cindy asked, confused. "I thought that this was our goal. I had to steel my resolve, yeah, but I'm ready to do anything to get our parents back, for better or for worse, and if that means killing our enemies... I guess we have no choice but to."

Jimmy sighed. "That's what I mean. Now, I feel like I can kill again. And that I can just keep on doing it. That it's no longer a moral enigma for me to pick at, it's just as simple as pulling a trigger. I feel... guilt-free. And I don't think that's what it's supposed to feel like. I should be guilty that I just took someone's life, even if that life was a life of evil." He stared pointedly into Cindy's pools of blue with his own. "I just killed someone, Cindy. I killed him. Twice. Once with the knife and then with his own weapon. I pierced his brain and then severed his spine."

"Jimmy, you're starting to creep me out," Cindy muttered as Jimmy drew closer.

Immediately, he checked his motion and returned to his previous posture in a heartbeat. "Sorry." He sighed. "See what I mean, Cindy? I don't even feel like me anymore."

"Stop it," Cindy muttered, tears beginning to form in her ears as she jabbed him in the arm. "Just stop it!" She glared at him. "Do you know how long I've feared that? That after this, things would all go back to normal and that you'd go back to being yourself? Well I still believe that, and to me, you still are that annoying, brainy nimrod that I fell in love with." She stopped a little, then blushed before continuing. "And I still believe that you are the same sweet, sensitive person that I fell in love with."

By the time her tirade was over with, she realized how close they were to each other. Just bare centimeters from each other, she couldn't help but be drawn to him, as if my some magical force. She could tell that the same was happening to Jimmy as his head drew closer with hers. They were less than a centimeter apart when they heard the collapsing of seveal people on the ground. Then came the yelling.

"Sheen you idiot! Couldn't you have kept your balance just a little bit longer?"

"Hey, it's not my fault you were all leaning over me- Hey, watch the face, watch the face- Ow, my face! Agh! Ow! Stop hitting me! Help!"

"You're pathetic."

"Alright, showtime's over. Beat it!"

"What's going on here?" Jimmy asked as he stepped out of the tent, just a little bit frazzled. Outside stood Meiling, General Tian, Sheen, Libby, and the ever-so-irritated Shaojia.

Shaojia turned to face him. "Well, I needed to talk to you, but everyone else wanted to see a show." There was a second of uproarous disapproval and arguement but was silenced by Shaojia yelling, "We can argue about that later! Right now, we have a situation."

"What is it?" Jimmy asked. The guilt and turmoil passed, he was ready to step back into the role of an Enforcer. A killer for the gods.

* * *

"Roughly half an hour ago, we got a burst transmission from the Rebel Yolkian Insurgents," Shaojia said as he set a small manilla folder on the table before them. All of the generals in the area, N-12 and W-12 both, were seated at a long table facing several brought-in TV screens, each filled with the faces of all of Shaojia's generals, all of which were spread out all along the capitol, some still engaged in battle, others taking pit stops for the troops. 

From one end of the table, left to right, sat Shaojia, General Tian, Brigadier General Hong, Butch, Nick, Sheen, Libby, Cindy, and Jimmy. At Shaojia's request, Meiling was standing outside instead of inside of the tent. Regardless of her personal relationship with Shaojia, now was the time for professional discussion, of which she could not be a part of because she does not belong to the Enforcers and is not allowed to hear the classified information about to be discussed.

On the TV screens opposite the table were, from left to right, Generals Tsung, Cho, Huo, Wu, and Yung. The only one missing was General Song who was too engrossed in battle to be able to join them.

"Well, out with it then!" Tsung demanded which drew pointed looks and reproachful glares all around, all mixed with a piece of confusion and curiosity. "Sir," he added with an unseen venom.

Shaojia shook his head. "The prisoners," he looked at the people from N-12, "your parents, are alive. For the most part, anyways. Starving, thirsty, made a little mentally scarred, but alive, nothing a trip or four to the doctor's can't fix."

"How do you know that?" Jimmy asked, voicing the question everyone, N-12 or not, was wondering.

"Rebel Yolkian counterintelligence agents," was Shaojia's answer. "That's the good news."

"And the bad?" Huo asked.

"The bad is that the agents were discovered before they could continue on with their mission, to successfully kill or capture King Goobot and any of his cabinet members." There were looks all around the table, some of worry, some of confusion, some of contemplation, and some that had no emotion at all, but were just blank, professional stares. "This is what the Yolkian News Media had to report after the agents were killed."

He turned to a hologram projector in the middle of the table. Activiating it, he went over to blow out the large tent's fluorescent, generator-enabled lighting. After the lights dimmed, the projector finished uploading its program and the show started:

_A Yolkian in a business suit with an anchorman-esque haitstyle sat next to another Yolkian, this one in a blouse with lipstick over its mouthplate with a similar, though more feminine hairstyle. Behind them was the image of a green planet with three alien letters written across it._

_"Greetings loyal citizens of Yolkus," said the anchorman Yolkian. "Our Glorious Leader King Goobot has released another press conference emphasizing our imminent victory upon the Infidels. After several days of tense combat with the Infidel military and Heretic insurgents alike, Our Glorious leader-" The anchorman Yolkian's hand flew to the side of its head as if to try and confirm something on an earpiece. "This just in: We now take you to a live follow-up conference by Our Glorious Leader!"_

_The screen switches from the news room to what seemed to be a scene outside of the main government building of the capital. Like Castro's speech back in the '60s-'70s, King Goobot was not at a podium but rather at the top of his balcony, or rather, the opening of a bird's beak, one of the mouths of the three-headed chicken-god Poultra._

_"Greetings, citizens! It is I, King Goobot the Great!" Goobot paused for the applause of his loyal (and possibly brainwashed) subjects. "It is with great pleasure that I inform you that we have captured a Heretic spy within the confines of my castle attempting to report to the Infidels of the condition of our prisoners! And it is with greater pleasure that tomorrow, the great Poultratsu Festival on which we will celebrate the coming of our new year, that we shall have offerings to the divine Poultra and our prophet Eggomas IV! Human sacrifices!"_

_"Yes, I speak of which our prisoners. One by one they will be sacrificed to our holy Poultra in the hopes that She will return and bless us with a glorious fri'yad, freeing us from our eternal shells and adjoining us into the bliss of all that is She, Poultra." Applause erupted as Goobot finished his speech._

Everyone sat in silence for a little bit before Jimmy turned off the projector. With a malice in his voice like that he had never felt before, he asked, "Who has a plan to stop him other than blowing him out to orbit with nuclear weapons?"

Tsung muttered slightly under his breath. "I still say that's a good Plan B."

"No one asked you," Tian reprehended. "Well, it's obvious this is retaliation for the presence of a spy inside his walls. We now know that the hostages are alive, but he's going to hold that over our heads because now he has a new emotional toy to play with."

"So he's going to try and cripple our morale by threatening to kill our parents," Libby concluded. "Well, I hope he has a good doctor because if I get my hands on him, he's going to be the one that's crippled."

"The keyword there is 'if', Libby," Cindy added. "How are we going to get all the way over there when we're all spread out so far and so far from the capital as it is?"

There was silence before Shaojia said, "Simple. We hop over them." He went back over to the projector and turned it on again, this time switching it into a tactical map of the entire city of Poultra's Crown. It was just a map, though, meaning no displays of forces and whatsoever. Not yet anyways. "Gentlemen, if you would please log your locations." Putting a small datachip into a slot in the side of the projector, the location of his current force was marked, placing them in the South of the Yolkian capital.

All around the capital, at different rings, scattered across the map, similar beacons were placed with their owners name marked above them. Now they had a good readout of the map and their forces positions. Using the circular shaped of the city's borders as a reference, Jimmy placed Tsung and Cho at the 12 o'clock position, Huo at the 3 o' clock, Wu at the 9 o'clock, and Yung at the 7 o'clock. He also concluded that the missing General Song was somewhere around there, either serving alongside one of the other generals or somewhere else while lesser generals filled up the rest of the area.

Shaojia walked over to the tac map and tilted it so that it shone at a small projection screen on the far side of the tent, opposite the TV monitors. Everyone turned to face it. "We don't have the time to fight our way all the way to the capital anymore. I was hoping that we wouldn't have to do this, but we're going to have to make a tactical withdrawl, place ourselves between the palace and the Yolktar armies spread all along the capital which will be at our rear flank, and while our armies draw the attention of both the palace security and the Yolktar armies, we send in Infitltration-and-Extraction units into the palace, secure the prisoners, and exfiltrate."

Quiet murmurings were rampant along the table. "Then," Jimmy said finally, "What about Goobot? And Strich?"

Shaojia smirked. "I think you know what you'll have to do."

Jimmy bowed his head for a moment. All of the N-12 generals looked at him expectantly, though worried as well. Jimmy nodded. "I know. And I wouldn't have it any other way."

All of the generals nodded, some beginning to fidget in their seats anxiously. "When do we move out, sir?" General Yung asked.

"Now, if possible. We'll have to move quickly." Shaojia looked over at the tac map. "Who knows where Song is?"

"Last time I checked," Wu answered, "and saying that the capital is a clock, he's around the 11 o'clock position, sir."

"If he does not respond to the burst transmission order to make a tactical withdrawl, I'll send Cho over with relief troops," Tsung added.

Shaojia nodded. "Good. Everyone else, disengage from any combat ASAP and get back onto your ships. We have to reposition now. As for the I&E forces, the N-12 force, accompanied by me and the 25th Ranger Batallion will be sent in to take out and secure the entire palace from the inside out, free the prisoners, and execute the enemy leaders."

"And the Yolktars?" Cho asked. "There are too many of them to hold off until then, and even if they don't reach us, there's still the matter of the breeding facilities under and throughout the capital everywhere."

"Remember that enemy vessel we had the tech-mice take a look at?" Shaojia asked. "They found something. I'm no scientist so I can't explain it, but they have found something in the artificial DNA of the Yolktars, added a few things to it, and have now created something like an anti-venom, a biochemical weapon that can be used against the Yolktars. And it gets better; it harms nothing else. We can shoot a missile of it right at a battle between Enforcers and Yolktars, detonate it in midair, and the spores will only kill the Yolktars, on contact. May cause a bit of messy dissolving and an occasional explosion, but it'll take care of the Yolktars. Tsung, the Rebel base is also at the 12 o'clock of the city, just outside the capital about 25,000 feet underground. Once you make landfall, send out an exploratory force to find where that base is and deliver a sample of the chemical agent to him and brief him. He'll take care of the rest. You should have a bottle of it in your mailbox."

"I guess we should say 'Thank-you' to the Lab-Geeks next time we see them," Tsung muttered.

"Is that all, sir?" Cho asked.

"No," Shaojia said, a bit quietly. "As the rings get smaller the closer we get to the capital, the less land that we have to position our troops. That's why I want each of you to select your most heavily wounded platoons, regiments, batallions, brigades, whatever, and send them home. We won't need the entire legion at full strength. And we don't need them creating too much traffic in the streets of the capital."

They all nodded. "Alright. Is that all?" Tsung asked.

Shaojia nodded. "Dismissed. Codename: Operation Intercept is now underway. Tian-"

"I'm on it, sir," Tian said. "The 25th Rangers are spread out several thousand miles away from here under Brigadier General Chen at the 5 o'clock position on the map. I'll brief him and the other minor generals spread out all around the entire capital and have the 25th Rangers mobile within the hour."

Shaojia nodded. He looked over at Jimmy as the TV monitors began to turn off. "Jim, you've come a long way. Now suit up. Your blade will be your side arm for Operation Intercept. Get suited with automatic weapons and sidearms because as the I&E force, we have to go in fast and go in hard. Blades are good for figthting long battles, but for the next situation, it might take some time that we may not have."

Jimmy nodded. Extending his hand, he said, "The League of Villains doesn't stand a chance."

Shaojia firmly returned it and shook Jimmy's hand. "You've come a long way. A very long way."

* * *

**The Afterthought:**

(The Gang opens champaigne bottles and fires revolvers into the air)

Author: Happy New Year, slackers!

Shaojia: Slackers? What are you talking about? This was supposed to have been finished by Christmas! You're the-

(Author smashes Shaojia's face in with a ridiculously hard to open champaigned bottle)

Cindy: Well, it's 2008, the chapter is finally done, and it looks like the story is drawing to a close.

Author: Well, maybe not. Or maybe it is. Or maybe not. Or maybe-

(Jimmy shoots Author with a knock-out dart)

Jimmy: Ah, shaddup!

Cindy: Well, now that they're incapacitated, we can get on with a perfectly sane The Afterthought without these two getting everyone killed.

Ninja-Dude/Craig: WAPPAH!

(Everyone looks at Ninja-Craig, including the now conscious Author and Shaojia)

Jimmy: Perfectly sane? Cindy, have you forgotten what show this is?

Craig: BECAUSE YOU'RE STUPID!

Author: (Shoots Craig in the back of the head with a revolver) That's my line!

Shaojia: No it isn't.

Author: Silence! (Hits Shaojia with champaigne bottle again) Now, unless anyone else has something stupid to say, how about our cast review their parts of the story.

Jimmy: Well, I think it was kinda weird, but the way I kinda went evil-ish and serial killer on Calamitous was kinda funny. But did you have to make my character so wimpy? I mean, I know that's the main premise, but I, the voice actor for Jimmy Neutron in this movie/story, whose name is-

Author: CONFIDENTIAL'D! (Hits Jimmy with the champaigne bottle)

Cindy: How did I see this coming? (Reads teleprompter) And we have another surprise guest star. From Ubisoft's video game series Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell, ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Sam Fisher! (Mutters) We are so sued for copyright...

(Sam comes in through the ceiling... on fire)

Sam: Agh! Get it off! Lambert, you fat bastard! Ow! Yargh! Fire hot, fire hot, fire very indeed hot!

Author: I'll fix it! (Hits Sam with champaigne bottle. Cork flies off, richochets off of walls, and nails Author in the head)

Cindy: Yeah, I think he's running out of ideas for these things.

(Anvil labeled 'No duh!' falls on Cindy)

Disembodied voice: Happy 2008!


	21. Bittersweet Victory

**Chapter 21**

**Bitter-Sweet Victory**

**(Subtitles Mandarin Chinese) "English" 'Thoughts'**

**_SOUND EFFECTS_**

* * *

**Disclaimer: I don't own Jimmy Neutron**

* * *

_"A soldier will fight long and hard for a piece of colored ribbon. An Enforcer will fight long and hard for the Hell of it." --Wendy Rodriguez, R-98_

_

* * *

_Operation: Intercept. It was a stupid name in Jimmy's opinion. But now wasn't the time nor the place for it. Right now, he was on an ICG-77/Laat _Infiltrator-_class gunship, seated near the opening of the ramp. Across from him sat Shaojia and to his right, Cindy. The others in the cabin were Libby, Sheen, Libby's brother T, Meiling (whom had taken about an hour to persuade Shaojia), and Tian with three N-12 soldiers and four W-12 soldiers from the 25th Ranger Batallion. The other children of N-12, the very young, the very scared, and the Carl were all back on Shaojia's ship _Fury of the Gods_ waiting and preparing for their parents' safe arrival. That's all they could do anyways to keep their minds off of the dreaded other possibility.

The 14 other N-12 soldiers were divided onto two other gunships with the rest of the space in the ships made up by the W-12 soldiers. Along with the three N-12/W-12 ships, 15 other ships flew along with them, packed with some of W-12's best soldiers. The small wing of gunships, totalling 18 gunships total, carried at least 300 soldiers total in their crew compartments, a frightening amount for a flashstrike operation, but probably necessary as they approached the Yolkian capital, a large monument of the chicken-goddess of the Yolkian people, Poultra.

It had been over 5 hours since their briefing by Shaojia. Everyone knew what to do. Everyone knew what was at stake. Over 5,000 feet below, all around the innermost ring of the capital, W-12 forces were positioned, launching a mortar strike at the base of the Yolkian capital all the while keeping an eye on their rear flanks, wary of any Yolktar armies that may come at them from behind. They didn't have much to fear, though, if the Rebel Yolkian insurgents had done their job and introduced the Yolktar neutralizing agent into any facilities they could find.

The radio in the cockpit crackled to life. The pilot, the only girl he had ever seen in the W-12 Enforcer military, a 15-year-old named Mai (AKA Yellow Jacket), said into the cabin, "General, we've got contact from the ground. Want me to filter it through the speakers?"

"Negative, Sergeant," Shaojia said as he got up and walked over to the cockpit. He picked up the radio's handset. "This is Grand General Wang, who is this and what is your situation?" A pause. "Uh-huh..." Another pause. "If you're sure. What about- Oh, alright. Well, just get your way in from the bottom and we'll fight our way from the top. Look for the prisoners and if you find them, tell me. We'll take care of the crazy guys... Alright." He turned to the cabin. "That was the Rebel Yolkian leader, Oo'rock Lamaygoo."

"What'd he want?" Jimmy asked.

"He just wanted to tell us that some of his boys are a little bored, so he's sending at least 3,000 of 'em to storm the bottom floors of the capital building," Shaojia answered nonchalantly.

"Well, that's nice of him!" Tian said in mock-happiness. "So when are we supposed to get to the palace anyways? It's been a while since I've fired a gun that needed aiming and I wanna see if I've gone rusty."

"Relax, you'll probably get plenty of targets to practice on," Shaojia answered. "Let's go over the mission specs one more time."

He turned to a small, collapsable TV in the ceiling and brought it down where it hung on a small stand from overhead. He then looked over to Mai who nodded and said onto the cockpit radio. "All craft, this is Yellow Jacket. Prepare for a brief, in-flight movie." Shaojia waited a few seconds before loading a small data chip into the side of the TV. A green, 3D blueprint of the palace appeared on-screen. Everyone began to crowd around the screen to get a good look.

The palace was divided into 45 floors, most just decorative stairwell, quarters, press rooms, and lobby, but there were a few key places in the palace they had to hit. "Alright, listen up and listen good because this is the last time we'll have to go over this," Shaojia said into a small handset on the side of the TV screen. "For most of us, we will be inserting through here." He pointed with his finger to what was marked as the roof . A small mouse icon followed his finger as he moved it around. "From the roof, we will make our way down directly below to King Goobot's war room. If possible, we are going to try and capture any Yolkian political personnel. If not, we'll just execute them early. The Rebels won't mind. The same does not go for Goobot, though. If any of you see him, kill him on sight. He's too dangerous to be left alive."

"If Goobot is not there, then he will probably be here," he continued, pointing to the middle chicken head's beak at around the 40th floor. "This is where Rebel Yolkian intelligence tells us he usually gives his propoganda speeches. More than likely, that's where our other target might be, a preppy, bucked-tooth brat named Eustace Strych. Trust me, you'll recognize him right away. He's the only human there. Kill him, too." He then gestured to the area behind the eyes. "Rebel intel also says that somewhere around here, Goobot's quarters along with his brother's and other high-profile guests' are located. We need to scan this area especially. There might be some very valuable intel here."

He then moved his hand to the 4th Floor. Anatomically, where he indicated was near a chicken's rear and ovarian areas. "Now, anyone that knows their chicken anatomy can identify what this is. And if you don't, just don't worry about the specifics, but this is where the eggs in a real chiken are made, but in the gigantic monument building, this is the escape pod hatch. Recently installed after the start of the Yolkian Civil War less than a year ago, it is still under construction. Still, there has to be at least one functioning hatch. We cannot let either of our targets get away if they somehow escaped us from above and manage escape the planet from this escape hatch."

He then pointed at the 25th floor which was just a little bit below a chicken's breast level. "This is where Bravo Company will be inserting. Their job is to spread out everywhere, up and down, and search the rest of the entire building, room by room, and find anyone still hiding in the palace. They will also provide a wall for any escaping Yolkian kings and psychotic Englishmen."

He pointed at the ground floor. There was a large, decorative staircase leading up into the abdomen of the chicken statue, which was seated, meaning its bent knees created a type of architectural barrier surrounding the entrance into what appeared to be the chicken's lower abdomen. "This is where our friends the Rebels Yolkians will be inserting and trying to push through. They will go in through the front door and scan the entire area. From intel reports, there's supposed to be a basement level and that just might be where our hostages are located. They will find them and, if possible, exfiltrate them to one of our medical camps after notifying us of their status and location. Also, if possible, they will be sending at least half of their force up our way to help trap our kingpins."

"How will we know which Yolkians not to attack?" Cindy asked.

Shaojia plainly answered, "Our enemies have green armor with black shoulder pads. Our allies look like somone gave an Easter egg a commando color scheme. Trust me, you'll know which ones to shoot and which ones not to. Now, any other questions?" Everyone shook their head and no response came through the speakers of the TV. "Good. Yellow Jacket, what's our ETA?"

"10 minutes, sir," Mai answered. "Dropping altitude now."

He nodded and said into the hand set, "Alright, senior ranking personell aboard craft, break out the toys," before stowing away the TV set and reaching up at the matter generator above them. "Each of you will have the following weapons layout: an Enforcer M4 assault rifle, M9 standard-issue pistol, 4 frag grenades, and an American KA-BAR combat knife, for those special, close-encounters with a new friend." He passed out each piece of weaponry to the soldiers from the generators. However, as he was about to pass out the grenades to Sheen, he stopped.

"What?" Sheen said in protest. "Gimme' the grenades! I'll be careful!"

Everyone in the crew compartment shared a look. "You don't get any grenades," Shaojia said finally, causing everyone to nod and sigh in relief.

"What?! That's not fair! Look, you just pull the pin and toss it!" Sheen demonstrated by snatching one Libby's grenades and activated it. However, the trick to the grenades wasn't to pull the pin and toss it, but to pull the pin and toss the grenade.

Jimmy, who was closest to the hatch release, hit the red button, causing the entire cabin to be illuminated by a red light. The hatch slowly swung open and Shaojia threw the primed grenade out the small opening, not even bothering to wait for it to open all the way. The grenade flew out the hatch and detonated in the air, sending a small shockwave through the ship, but one barely noticeable over the rumble of the engine.

The hatch finished opening. They now had their first glimpse of the Yolkian capital city and the battle ensuing below between the now-halved Enforcer ground forces, who were all tightly packed within the tighter confines of the 1st Ring of the Yolkian capital, paired with gunships flying air support for them and the Yolkian security force, a sea of complete green with no Yolktars in sight. Jimmy simply stared, mouth agape, as the Enforcer force, maybe 450,000 soldiers, probably less, faced the Yolkian 'security' force.

The original 5 million at the beginning of the war, widdled down slightly by the Rebel Yolkian forces before the Enforcer force arrived, along with the number destroyed by Rebel guerilla tactics after the Enforcers had cleared a major LZ around the entire capital by destroying the Loyalist Navy. On top of that, there was also the several hundreds of thousands lost during the fighting they had experienced for a few days before their withdrawl and replacement by the Yolktar hordes to consider. However, that still did not help what they now faced. There still had to be at least 3.5 million Yolkian soldiers, in their bright, royal green armor, attempting to charge out of their underground bunkers as the Enforcer artillery shells ripped apart their formations. At least that would keep them at bay and not overwhelming the Enforcer force.

He then spotted what appeared to be a large mass of shadow that snuck through the buildings of the city. As they crossed a lighted Yolkian crossway, he discovered they were Yolkians as well, but different. From so far above the ground, he couldn't make out the exact details, but he knew they were dressed in black, either black armor suits or black 'clothing' over their armor suits, he couldn't determine. But there were a lot of them, maybe in the ten thousands, possibly even in the hundreds of thousands, making their way towards the capital building, beginning to divide into tiny pairs before reforming into the giant mass as it slid its way past any massive groups of Yolkian soldiers while rolling over and wiping out the smaller ones, like a river swallowing up rocks in a current. And better, it was an all-out, all-enveloping charge that helped lessen the stress put on by Enforcer artillery.

Shaojia walked over to where Jimmy stood staring out the open hatch of the dropship. "This is it, Jimmy. All of our hard work is finally coming together. About a week after all of this is over, you'll find a few paychecks in the mail. Distribute them to whoever they're sent to. Enforcer payments. A sweet thing. It'll be enough to cover all of the damages."

"Damages?" Jimmy asked. "And what do you mean, paychecks? I'm still trying to figure this one out: what are the Enforcers? Are we soldiers, generals, special forces, secret agents, assassins? What are we?"

"The Enforcers..." Shaojia started as he took a glance over his shoulder, looking at his own men, the 4 W-12 soldiers in black combat armor, the oldest of the entire bunch only about 13 or 14. They all looked like a bunch of professional army commandos, essentially the equivalent of fun-sized Snickers except military-related. "The Enforcers are fighters of the gods. They say jump, we ask how high; they say kill, we ask who. That's all you need to know." He looked Jimmy straight in the eyes. "Who we kill and why we kill them doesn't matter. We kill them because we're told to and because we know that they are bad men. Trust me, by the end of all of this, we'll know exactly why the W-12 Enforcers are still here."

"Sir," Yellow Jacket called out from the cockpit, "We are hovering over Alpha LZ. All other craft are also in position."

Shaojia nodded. "Drop the plank."

"Roger wilco, sir," Yellow Jacket said before picking up the radio handset. "All birds, this is Yellow Jacket. Drop yer planks, I repeat, drop yer planks." She then looked back. "Well, looks like our planks are already open. Happy huntin', boys and girls! General, me and the others will proceed as planned after drop-off. The boys down there are in quite a Charlie-Foxtrot."

Shaojia nodded and waved the four commandos forward. Dressed in modern SWAT-esque uniforms, their only distinctive feature seperating them from looking like mini-SWAT would be the helmet, the same model of helmet Shaojia had worn for the earlier part of the fiasco they all found themselves in. With a T-shaped visor covering what the jet-black, all-encasing helmet did not, all of the commandos appeared identical, uniform, and in Jimmy's opinion, a little creepy. Over their one-piece tactical battle suit which they had switched out for in place of the far-too-heavy-for-the-occasion Chinese armor was a KEVLAR bulletproof vest. Looking over to Meiling, Shaojia, and Tian, he noticed that they wore the same outfit. He looked down at himself discreetly and at the inhabitants of the crew cabin as a whole. As a matter of fact, they were all dressed pretty much the same way. They were the same. They were soldiers. They were Enforcers.

The W-12 commandos walked along the ramp, the front-most two with a rope in their hand. Tossing the ropes over the ramp save for the end that they held in their hand, they attatched it to the overhang that was directly above the ramp. Then, they ran towards the edge of the ramp, grabbed a part of the rope, and jumped off, sliding down. After that pair had disappeared from view, the other two did the same, grabbing the rope and sliding down as well like the commandos they appeared to be.

Shaojia then looked over to the crew compartment, looked at Meiling, then at Jimmy, then nodded. "Jim, you can take it from here." He looked over to Meiling and motioned with his head to the ramp. With a slick, smooth motion, they put on their helmets. The sight was unnerving as the two charged the ramp, grabbed the ropes, and disappeared from sight. Tian followed shortly behind them.

There was silence in the compartment for a few seconds, save for the roar of the engines and the distant din of mortars. Then, "Cool!" Everyone looked at Sheen who donned his own battle helmet, grabbed his weapons, and charged the ramp by himself, not even bothering to grab the rope as he jumped out of the craft. Everyone, especially Libby, ran to see if the maniac had jumped to his doom. Unfortunately for the human gene pool, he didn't. He had simply landed on a large, tree-like plant, fell down a few branches, and landed on some alien bushes. Jimmy shook his head after he saw Sheen get up and give everyone a thumb's up. "I'm alright!"

Jimmy sighed then motioned for the others to begin doing the same. Unsurprisingly, T was up next, adolescent male machismo coursing through his veins as he ran down the ramp, grabbed one of the ropes, and began to slide down it. The other N-12 soldiers of no name followed. Libby looked down, turned to Cindy, and then hugged her. She then ran over to the ramp and slid down as well.

Seconds later, they had thrown him over and into the same water fountain Sheen had fallen into.

Jimmy looked over to Cindy as they walked towards the edge of the ramp. In her eyes, she saw an uncertain fear as she looked down at the 50 foot drop below. He moved his hand over to hers and lightly tapped it. She responded by smiling and grabbing his hand tightly.

Jimmy smiled back and looked directly into Cindy's eyes. "Cindy, before we go, I want you to know..." He averted his eyes. "Well, the thing is-"

She put a finger on his lips. "I know. I love you too." Their eyes locked as the sound of artillery shells were blocked out. The world around them was null as they stared at each other.

Pulling her into him, Jimmy had done something he had wanted to do to her for a long time. Pressing his lips against hers, they kissed for a few seconds that seemed like hours to them as parted for breath. "This wasn't our first, but let's not make this our last," Jimmy said. They seperated slightly before turning away and getting onto seperate ropes.

Back in the cockpit, Mai turned back around in her chair. Wiping a tear from her eyes, she muttered, "That was better than my soaps!" She then flicked off the safety for her bird's Hellfire missiles. "Back to work!"

* * *

Shaojia shook his head as he watched Sheen climb out of the water fountain at the top of the roof. The water was not like the green water that they found in water barrels around town, but more of an imperial crimson. The fountain itself was really an elongated oval that ran the length of the rooftop which represtented the chicken's head. The water fountain shot a steady stream of bright red water in an arc where it joined the other part of the fountain. Beneath the arc, a consistent system of spouts shot crimson liquid up as well, joining with the arc. The cycle was illuminated further by red lights directed at and around the arc. The entire figure itself resembled a chicken's crown. 

The rooftop itself had several raised platforms on which there was a giant circle with a strange alien character in it. Judging from the lights surrounding the platforms and the numerity of them, it could be safely assumed they were a series of helipads of some sort for important personnel.

Beside him stood Meiling. Quanbei was supervising the troops as they made contact with the ground and positioned them around, trying to find as many entry points as possible into the war room below where many of Goobot's officials would be, possibly the entire cabinet if they were lucky.

Meiling looked up at him. "A-Shaojia-ge, thank you."

"For what?" Shaojia asked, though he had a pretty good idea what.

"For..." She paused. "For letting me come with you. I promise, I'll stay out of the way, but I'll-"

Shaojia held up his hand. "If I let you stay in the camps or forced you back onto the ships, I know you'll follow me anyways, somehow. Here, I can keep an eye on you and make sure you're safe. Those weapons I gave you are only going to be used if your life is in danger or if you're sure that you have a clean shot at our targets."

Meiling sighed and bowed her head. "Okay..."

Shaojia put a hand on her shoulder. "That, and I don't want you to miss out on the fireworks." He walked over to the edge of the rooftop, fenced by a waist-high gate. He waved his hand in emphasis to the battle raging below. Artillery shells burst in the air and on the ground, ripping everything in their wake to shreds. He pulled Meiling closer to him and the two stood and watched the artillery rip through Yolkian administrative buildings. "This'll be fun for the clean-up crew."

"Ahem." The two turned around to see Tian dragging a very wet Sheen over to them. "General, where do you want me to position this moron?"

Shaojia stroked his chin. "Hmm..." Looking over at Sheen, he waved him off dismissively. "Eh, give him his weapons and he'll be a homicidal nutcase, which is kinda what we need for this op. Just post him with one of the entry teams." At the edges of his peripheral vision, he saw Jimmy and Cindy approaching. "Good, you're here. Now we can get to work."

Jimmy unslung the M4 from his back and checked the ammo clip. Ramming it home with a satisfying 'click', he nodded at Shaojia. "Let's finish this."

* * *

Eustace paced Goobot's central office over and over again. Enough times, and he'll probably be in a trench. "Great, this is just great!" he yelled as Goobot and all of his Cabinet members continued analyzing the data that practically overran all of the data screens in the "Neutron and his lackies are here! How did they get past Calamitous? Oh, wait, I know, they flew over him! Probably after they offed the little bastard, too! Those lucidious little wankers! They ruined everything!" Infuriated, he kicked over an egg-shaped chair. "Damn them!" 

"Will you just shut up?" Goobot snapped as he glared at Eustace. "I realize that things have gone sour, but there's nothing we can do now. We'll just have to hope that my men can hold them off long enough to wipe them all out."

"Oh, they've done a real damn good job in the past too, haven't they?" Eustace retorted as his hand tightened its grip on the spare revolver that he now used after Neutron seized his prized Luger. "At this rate, it's a wonder that they're not on your roof this very second!"

Goobot glowered at Eustace in contempt. "Now look here, you ungrateful little monkey! How dare you speak to me this way in my own palace!" Drawing his Poultratos Blade, a scimitar-looking weapon that surged a fierce blue lightning, he gestured with it towards Eustace. "If you're so certain of our doom, maybe I can hurry it up for you!"

Eustace stepped away out of Goobot's attack range and leveled his revolver with Goobot's head. "Don't tempt me to waste what little rounds I have in this vulgar device," he seethed. The two megalomaniacs' eyes locked, an intense fire of hatred burning deep within in contempt for their situation, their enemies, and each other.

Before anyone could be killed, Goobot's Director of National Intelligence, Kolto Yoolk, came up to him with one of his aides. "Sire, do you hear that?"

"Hear what?" Goobot said as he continued to glare at Eustace.

"That." Kolto gestured towards the ceiling. Everyone in the room began to listen closely. Then they heard it. The roar of powerful aircraft hovering not too far above the building and the stomping of boots as men got into position.

"They're here," Eustace and Goobot said in unison as their eyes met once more. They nodded and silentlly put their differences aside... for now.

"I highly recommend that all important personell evacuate," added Secretary of War Ooter Omlak.

"Come, Sire, we must hurry," Goobot's brother Prince Ooblar added.

Goobot gave the Yolkian equivalent of a nod and said, "Let's go, the escape pods are down this way."

As he and the rest of his Cabinet began to file out of the room with Eustace following them, guards from an adjacent second staircase began to file into the warroom, an experimental rifle-like weapon in their hands that was ready to be tested after a weapons research facility was able to say that it was functional before all further communications with it was lost.

* * *

"BREACH!" the commando leading the assault team Jimmy and Cindy had been assigned to yelled before blowing open the sliding doors. The ensuing explosions afterwards indicated the destruction of the Yolkian security behind it. "Go! Go! Go!" After the 4-man commando team in front of them entered the building, Jimmy and Cindy followed. After they entered, so did the other commando teams, all of which seemed to form a type of line waiting to infiltrate the building. 

The second Jimmy's boot hit the floor of the war room, it seemed as if the world had frozen. His mind quickly assessed the situation. Somehow, the Yolkians had acquired rifles. And there were a lot of them. At least 18 Yolkian soldiers stood in a rigid line in front of each pair roof entrances, of which there were 4 leading to and from the helipads on the roof. The entrances were inbetween two staircases each, making 8 staircases leading out of the war room.

The sight caught the commandos off-guard long enough for it to turn into a Mexican Standoff. "Intruders, stand down," the presumed leader of the Yolkian security detatchment said as he held a rifle leveled with Jimmy's head as he did the same with his M4.

"Do as he says." Everyone turned around to see Shaojia with his rifle on the ground and his hands held high above his head. "We surrender."

Immediately, Tian was right behind him whispering angrily and incredulously. "What are you doing?!" Meiling was just staring at Shaojia with the same expression everyone else wore.

Jimmy was wondering about the same thing. "I think he's finally lost it," he whispered to Cindy. She nodded.

To Tian, Shaojia replied. "I'm keeping my men alive."

"You do know they're liable to shoot us anyways, right?" Tian growled back.

Shaojia stared blankly for the second, began to make calculations in his head, failed, drew diagrams in the air, then muttered, "Crap." He then reached for his pistol.

"FIRE!" the Yolkian commander yelled. Jimmy's world was soon engulfed in a bright light, a loud boom, and then nothing.

'Oh God, I'm dead, I'm dead, I can't believe I'm dead. I've come so far! I've admitted my feelings to Cindy, we were so close to freeing my parents! And that ringing won't stop! Wait, dead people don't hear ringing...' Jimmy's vision finally began to blur which was an improvement compared to complete and utter blindness. Then, it began to clear and he saw that there was a type of weird box/circle-shaped outline, charred, burnt, and slightly smoking.

"I love it when a plan comes together," Shaojia said as he attempted to holster his pistol while still slightly blind. It took him about 10 tries.

"I love it when you don't plan," Tian remarked as he rubbed his eyes to clear out his vision. "I'm usually left with my vision afterwards."

"How many figures am I holding up?" Shaojia said as he held up 3 fingers.

"3," Tian answered.

Shaojia patted him on the arm. "See, you're fine."

Tian shook his head as he leaned on a nearby wall as he continued to try and regain his sight. Meiling, who had hidden behind Shaojia for most of the ordeal and was thus less affected than everyone else. "What I kinda want to know is how you knew the rifles would explode."

Jimmy and Cindy had made their way over in the meanwhile, staggering slightly as their sight began to return, though not much. "I was kinda wondering the same thing," Jimmy muttered as he waved his hands in front of his eyes. "And I still can't see."

Shaojia just smirked as he walked across the outline of the burn scar on the ground. "Hey, just because I can't spell it doesn't mean I don't know how to sabotage."

Tian shook his head. "I still say you're a crazy bastard," he muttered darkly under his breath. "Damn well had the ever-loving crap scared out of me. Could've at least given us a heads-up."

"Alright, that's enough of that," Shaojia said as he tried to determine which direction the exit was. "Everyone get out of the way so the unblinded teams on the rooftop can come through." The soldiers did so, staggering out of the way of the exits so the commando teams that were still on the roof or were at least high enough on the staircase that they weren't blinded from the blast could come through. "Who's the senior-most non-blind guy around here?" he asked as the soldier's began to run out of room to file in.

One of the soldiers came up to Shaojia. "Sir, Major Mutsuryu Wataru, 5th Japanese Infantry Company C, Rangers Special Forces Batallion."

Shaojia nodded. "Alright, until the rest of us get our bearings back, you will lead the top-down assault from each pair of stairs. Do whatever you need to do, position your men wherever you need to, but hurry the Hell up, charge down those stairs, and remember your objectives. Don't stop 'till you are either hit a dead end, become completely and utterly lost, or have accomplished your mission."

The major saluted and motioned downwards. "Alright, let's go! Get into your platoons and get down those stairs. Blast anything and anyone you see! Watch your flanks! If there are anymore of those rifles, we need to stay the Hell away from them before they explode. Go! Go! Go!"

As the 5 platoons of Charlie Company began to filter through the room from the roof and traverse down the stairs, gunshots and explosions filled the ambience of the dormant war room. Finally, Shaojia's vision, along with everyone else's, began to settle down. "Okay," Shaojia said as he looked at the long lines of troops still trying to squeeze their way into the floor below, "Everyone get down there. Wait in line, do whatever, but the second your boots hit that floor, I want to hear nothing but gunfire from you, do you hear me?"

"Sir!" the Rangers cried in unison as they attempted to try and push their way through, a military company full of children bumping and pushing into another military company of children, the stairs becoming a type of pile-up as more child soldiers continued to come from the roof and flood the war room.

Jimmy watched the entire seen with a distant but slightly amused disposition. He felt entirely detatched from the entire situation as it was, it was so unbelieveable. It felt like only yesterday that he was a simple boy genius, arguing with his fiercest rival and secret crush over the most trivial matters, hanging out with his friends and drinking mocha ice slurps at the Candy Bar, and believing that his entire life could be destroyed or maintained by one single final.

Now, he was the leader and highest-ranking general of his entire universe, fighting in a war he had never even wanted to fight, the blood of an enemy staining his hands and soul, the probable love of his life standing beside him in life-saving armor and a rifle in her soft and delicate hands, and the sights and sounds of death, destruction, and combat forever seered into his brain for as long as he shall live.

He felt someone tap their hand against his and saw Cindy, his Cindy, point over to a giant, pool table-sized control conduit. It looked like a giant virtual football field or something similar. Regardless, it was big. And what was even more remarkable about it other than it's size was what it displayed.

On the surface of the conduit, the Battle of Poultra's Crown played through live video in all its glory, miniature representations, live, moving, 3D representations in fact, acting out the entire battle. Jimmy watched as individual soldiers were replicated in holographic green code, the artillerymen all acting in uniform but unique ways, one team firing their cannon in a purely robotic and efficient style while another team, probably less experienced, kept fumbling with the dangerous projectiles as the battle ensued all around them.

"Those bastards," Shaojia muttered as he and Tian walked toward it. "So that's how they knew to ambush us, they saw us coming. They knew we were entering their air space, too."

Tian nodded. "Maybe we can use this to our advantage."

Jimmy nodded. "You're right. If they used it to track our troop movements, we can do the same to theirs. We can find the ETAs of the Yolktar forces, give the artillery firing coordinates, everything." He let out a rare, evil smile. "Looks like payback and irony like to come hand in hand."

"I'll say," Shaojia said. "Someone should stay back here, to monitor the troop movements. We've found good Yolkian tech, so we need to use it to our advantage. But who..." He looked around the room.

"I'll stay." Everyone turned to look at Meiling who was looking at the holoprojected battle.

Shaojia raised a subtle eyebrow. "I thought you said you wanted to come along."

Meiling smiled slightly. "I did, but I made you a promise that I know will be a little hard to keep. This way, it'll be easier. But you're gonna have to make a promise to me though," she said, whispering the last part so quietly, only Shaojia, who was standing directly in front of her at that point, towering over her by about 3 inches.

Shaojia put a hand on her shoulder to silence her. Slowly, his hand drifted under her chin and he lifted it up slightly so that it met his own eyes. He bent down and gave her short peck on the lips, oblivious and uncaring of the audience he had or the type of unprofessionalism he portrayed. Afterall, he knew that once this would be his last mission for the Enforcers for a long, long time. What's the worse they could do, kill him? Oh, right...

(A-Meiling-ai,) Shaojia started, staring deeply into her eyes. (For you, there are only two true certainties in life. One of those is death which so long as I live will never occur to you for a very long time. The other...) He paused, letting the silence soak in. (The other is me returning to you alive. And that I swear to you forever.)

"Shaojia," Meiling said before hugging him tightly. (I love you.)

(I know,) Shaojia said before turning to Tian. "Stay here. Protect her with your-"

Tian nodded and waved it off. "I know, I know; 'protect her with your life.'" Turning serious, he fixed his eyes on both Shaojia and Meiling. (I'll protect her as if she was my own sister.)

Shaojia smiled and put his hand on Tian's armored shoulder. (If all goes well,) he said, looking over to Meiling with a sly grin, (you better get used to calling her sister-in-law.)

Jimmy coughed slightly. The 3 Chinese turned to look at the 2 Americans. The sound of gunfire was growing weaker as the advancement party below continued to annihilate any and all resistance they encountered. "Uh, we should probably get going."

Shaojia nodded. "Right, let's go."

* * *

Eustace, Goobot, and Goobot's brother Ooblar ducked as they fled from the gunfire of the Enforcer soldiers. No older than Strych, these children had deadly aim with the assault weapons they carried. Eustace turned for a split-second to get off a round which managed to strike one of the pursuing soldiers in the visor of the helmet. He fell to the ground, dead. If anything, that just made the gunfire grow ten-fold. 

They continued their flight down the spiraling staircase that symbolized the spine of a chicken, the only way to get to and from each level. Eustace paused again to fire at an Enforcer that had fired from above. The bullet struck the soldier square in the chest, knocking him off balance and over the railing where he hit the stairs in front of them with a sickening splat. Eustace slowed to pick up the fallen soldier's rifle and continued to run.

Their flight from the Enforcers had taken them down at least 4 floors. Goobot realized that their quarters were very close. "The plans!" Goobot yelled to Strych. "We need to get them!"

"Are you insane?!" Eustace yelled back as he paused to fire a few shots at the Enforcers above them. "We need to keep running!"

"The elevators are too far down," Goobot argued. "There's an emergency lift in my quarters. We can take them to the escape pods."

"Fine," Eustace conceeded, firing another couple of rounds from his captured asssault weapon at the Enforcers. "But this better be worth it!"

"Just shut up and follow!" Goobot yelled. Ooblar and Eustace began to follow before long, dark lines fell over the stairs and hung downwards. No sooner than the ropes hit the floor, several Enforcer commandos could be seen sliding down the rappel lines. "Run!" As the trio frantically tried to do so, Ooblar was struck several times in the back. "Ooblar!" The alien spun wildly as a bullet hit his hoverlift. Another burst of bullets crashed into the Yolkian prince's glass dome, taking out both eyes and piercing the brain.

"Come on!" Eustace yelled as he fired a spray of bullets at the pursuing Enforcers. "If we don't want to end up like him, we better hurry you bloody codger. I knew I shouldn't have teamed up with you!" He cringed when a bullet tore at his right ear, blood spraying everywhere as he screamed and began to run for Goobot's quarters, the alien following closely behind. Eustace paused momentarily to empty the rest of the rounds in his assault rifle, spraying them in a wild arc at the pursuing Enforcer troops before the clip ran dry and he threw away the weapon. The second the two entered the room, the doors closed, sealing shut.

* * *

Shaojia bent down to collect the dogtags of one of the Enforcers that had been unfortunate enough to have needed to reload in front of a Yolkian soldier. The Enforcer's neck had been broken by a swing from the electrostaff, but several bullets were returned to the Enforcer's assailant to avenge the fallen boy. 

"Damn, I didn't think we'd lose anybody today," Shaojia muttered as Jimmy and Cindy walked up to him. He sighed as he deposited the dogtags. "Come on, we better run, Goobot and Strych probably have a decent lead already and I know you guys would love to get your hands on them." At this, he didn't look at both of them but rather pointedly at Jimmy who understood his meaning. He would have to be the one to pull the trigger to fully avenge so many Enforcer deaths.

"Let's go," Jimmy said as he watched the line of Enforcer soldiers rappel down the sides of the giant spiral staircase while others opted for going down the old fashioned way, their boots stomping on the steps of the stairway and making the entire structure creak nervously. "By the sounds of things, they won't have a lot of room to go."

With that, the 3 stepped around a Yolkian soldier's former armor and gooey corpse and double-timed it towards the staircase. The entire structure and the area surrounding it was pretty much surrounded by Yolkian shells, the majority of which were centralized around the staircase entrance itself, signifying that they did not want the Enforcers to get through.

Jimmy looked toward a nearby wall where several Yolkians, each in different suit-type armor patterns, were held at gunpoint by at least an entire platoon of Enforcer soldiers. Shaojia walked over to one of the soldiers who saluted. "Luitenant, what have we got here?"

"10 Yolkian Cabinet officials, sir," the luitenant answered. "4 of them are Secretaries of something."

Shaojia nodded. "Escort them to the roof top and don't let them out of your site. See if we can escort them away from here and to a POW camp somewhere. Find any Yolkian soldiers that've decided to surrender?" The soldier shook his head. "Well, if there are any that are smart enough to surrender, do the same thing, except wait until there are at least a lot of them." The soldier saluted and turned to his platoon and began to order them to move out with their prisoners.

"Well, at least we've held up our part of the bargain," Cindy commented as she watched the Yolkian officials go by, some staring nerviously at the ground while others glared angrily at everyone and everything.

Jimmy nodded and added, "Yeah, we've got their officials, now all we need now is their ex-king."

Shaojia led them over to the staircases. "Only thing is, the king's gonna have to be delivered to them in a body bag, er, shell carton... Whatever it is Yolkians use to hold their dead." As they were about to approach the stairs, a soldier with a major's insignia approached them.

"Sir, Major Chaoyue, Alpha Company," the major said. "My men have cornered the enemy commanders to what we believe to be the Yolkian king's quarters. However, when we breached the room, they were nowhere to be found. I've left only 5 men to search the room for a secret exit somewhere while I sent everyone else down to help secure the escape pods."

"Good job, major," Shaojia said as he made his way down the stairs, everyone else following. "Pass along the message. I want those escape pods secure and I want them secured good. Nothing leaves this building unless its in a body bag, understand?"

"Crystal, sir," the major said before double-timing down the stairs.

Jimmy sighed. "We need to check out the room. I have a... feeling that there's something in that room that we need. Or more accurately now, there _was_ something in the room before Goobot and Strych took it."

Shaojia nodded. "I've been having the same feeling. Come on, we're in no real rush. My men will have the escape pods locked down. There's no way for them to get through unless the emergency exit just happens to take them directly to the escape pod room."

* * *

"Dammit, can you hurry the bloody Hell up!" Eustace whispered harshly as he and Goobot hid in the safety of the escape pod service hall, blocked off from the Enforcers by a single steel door that they had locked shut. Still, that did not ease Eustace's nerves while he held onto the folder that detailed some very important plans that they had intended to enact after Neutron's annihilation. It seems that such plans would have to be put on hold, though. 

"Shut up, you ungrateful little brat. How dare you talk to a king such as I like that?!" Goobot snapped as he continued to enter activation codes into one of the escape pods. However, as it was dark due to the fact that Enforcer artillery bombing had knocked out partial power to the palace, he could not tell which pod he was entering the code into or what codes he's putting in for that matter.

Eustace gritted his teeth in frustration. "You know, I'd just love to shoot you inbetween the bloody eyes, you unbearable arse! And how dare you call me ungrateful?! What do I have to be grateful of?! Our enemies are in your home, ransacking and destroying the place, freeing our hostages, killing your men, and ruining my plans-"

"Your plans?" Goobot scoffed. "Those were my plans. Without Yolkian techonology, you could never even hope creating a weapon that powerful."

"Oh sure," Eustace mocked, "Yolkian technology. If Yolkian technology is so advanced, why can't you bloody idiots invent something as advanced as this simple revolver instead of playing with pointy rocks and sticks!" Leveling the revolver with Goobot's clearly visible brain, Eustace threatened him with an insane mirth in his sinister eyes, clouded by evil. "Perhaps I should give you a one-on-one example on how human technology is superior to Yolkian technology and why I don't need you around anymore."

Goobot glared at his former partner in crime. "Then how do you think you'd get out of this place without the access codes to the escape pods?" With that, he angrily slammed his fist onto the console. The light above the escape pod glowed green and the door opened, a flourescent red light filtering into the room.

Eustace smirked. "Thank you, old chap. I'll be sure to visit your grave site as soon as I can." He pulled back the hammer on the revolver. Goobot's eyes widened in fear before he saw a bright light.

* * *

Jimmy scanned the room with analytical eyes as Shaojia, Cindy, and the 5 soldiers left by the major continued to search Goobot's private quarters. They had passed by the shell of Goobot's brother, Prince Ooblar and were vaguely aware that Goobot's will may now be over the edge and that he is more dangerous now than ever. Not as dangerous as the clearly psychotic Eustace Strych, but dangerous nonetheless. 

Goobot's quarter was immense. A giant, royal bed sat inbetween two large, oval windows that seemed to symbolize the eyes of the center head of the Poultra statue. Before the bed was an extravagent royal rug that covered a rather large part center of the room. Jimmy walked over to one of the windows and looked out.

"Whoa," was all he said as he watched the fighting below. From so high up, the combatants looked like tiny toys, dots of light peppering out form one part of the battleground that soon created slightly more massive explosives as they connected with Yolkian troops. It created a surreal, indescribable feeling as he continued to watch the fighting.

He then felt someone elbow him in the ribs. He looked over to see Shaojia looking at him impatiently. "Come on, no time for sight-seeing. Get back to work."

Jimmy nodded and walked over to Goobot's work bench. "There has got to be something around here," Jimmy muttered to himself as he ripped out some of Goobot's drawers, scanning through a messy stack of papers and holopads, overall finding nothing of value. "Any luck?"

"None," Shaojia reported as he began to pace on top of a seemingly royal Yolkian rug that bore a type of imperial Yolkian seal or symbol or something. He turned to the 5 soldiers. "Alright, go ahead and get back to the front, men. We can handle it from here." The soldiers saluted before half-walking half-jogging out the door and back to the battle downstairs.

Cindy scratched her chin as she too began to pace onto the Yolkian rug in the middle of the room. "Well, if there was every anything important in here, they probably took it and ran. But how? That major said that his men had the entire area sealed off and that they couldn't have gotten out any other way."

Jimmy rubbed his temples as he tried to think. "Come on, think Jimmy, think. There has to be some type of secret door or elevator or something that Eustace and Goobot used that we can use to get to them."

Shaojia scoffed. "Yeah right. This isn't some crappy detective novel where the good guys find some secret passage somewhere that's activated by someone saying, 'Open Sesame' or 'Abra Kadabra.'"

Jimmy shook his head but smiled bemusedly. "Yeah, you'r right." Walking over to the rug so that the could form a type of thinking circle, he said, "It definitely can't be something blunt either, like 'Password' or 'Activate Emergency Lift.'" At that very second, the rug underneath them began to glow a light green. A circular green halo began to form overhead on the roof before finally solidifying and casting a solid green force field around them. Slowly, the 'rug' began to descend before quickly picking up speed.

Shaojia rose his eyebrows as he checked his ammunition. "Well hot damn. I guess this _is_ a crappy detective novel."

* * *

Eustace opened his eyes when he felt the bright light dissipate. "Come on, they have to be this way," came a familiarlly irritating voice, the voice of Jimmy Neutron. Eustace and Goobot locked eyes with each other before their eyes both fell onto the folder Eustace held. Then, they noticed the open escape pod. Their alliance already broken, they each went for their best shot, Goobot for the folder containing the plans, Eustace for the escape pod behind Goobot that was his only escape from what he has categorized as a God forsaken hellhole along with being a Genuine Clusterfuck. 

Goobot slapped Eustace's revolver-holding hand to the side and away from him. The sudden movement caused Eustace to tense, resulting him in discharging the firearm into the hallway towards where Jimmy, Shaojia, and Cindy were just getting off. "Holy crap!" Shaojia yelled as he ducked under the .38 calibur revolver round. "There they are!" He brought his rifle up to bear while Jimmy and Cindy did the same.

Before the three could get off an executive salvo, Eustace shot again, this time hitting Shaojia square in the chest who, along with the others, had been exposed in the open hall and bright lighting cast by the elevator. Shaojia fell backwards with a thud and a groan. "Cindy, get him out of the hall!" Jimmy commanded as he returned fire with the assault rifle. While Cindy dragged the groaning Shaojia over to cover near the emergency lift, Eustace and Goobot both rushed into the small escape pod. Of course, both of them couldn't fit in there and even if they could, they wouldn't want to stay in the same space with the other for any elongated amount of time.

Though whey were busy fighting for space, they were still out of Jimmy's field of fire. Steeling himself for what he knew he had to do, he held the rifle up and began to walk cautiously towards the open escape pod. Eustace spotted Jimmy coming their way. He waited a little longer until Jimmy was about 4 feet away from them and shoved himself off of Goobot and hard against the wall opposite the escape pod. He fired twice at Jimmy in the dark, missing both times. Jimmy, on the other hand, didn't have to worry about a one-shot kill as he pulled the trigger in hopes of delivering a hot wave of deadly lead towards his opponent. At least, that was his plan which was foiled due to the _CLACK_ sound of the ammo cartridge being empty. Not having time to reload, he reached for his pistol.

Eustace took that time to bum rush Jimmy, it still being too dark for him to accurately shoot at him. Tackling Jimmy to the ground, he ripped Jimmy's helmet off of him and began to punch Jimmy in the face, the pistol remaining in Jimmy's holster and the revolver sliding out of either combatant's reach. Meanwhile, Goobot emerged from the escape pod and eyed the file that Eustace had dropped a few inches away from himself before tackling Jimmy. He made his way toward it.

Jimmy finally managed to catch one of Eustace's fists and pull him into a punch of his own. While Eustace's punches were more of a side-slapping variety, Jimmy's cold-cocked haymaker knocked Eustace clean off of him. Jimmy rushed to his feet and grabbed Eustace by the shoulders and slammed him hard against one of the walls. He did this again on the other wall before punching Eustace in the gut, kneeing him in the stomach, and finally throwing him head first into another wall. Eustace backed away slowly from the wall, dazed, and turned around just in time to catch a punch in the gut from Jimmy that caused him to back into the wall.

Eustace slumped to the ground and rolled away weakly from Jimmy who was trying to catch his breath. Eustace then saw that nearby was his revolver. It was at this same time that Goobot had retrieved the file and was about to enter the escape pod. Eustace grabbed the revolver and jumped up, bracing himself to fire. The revolver lit up a partial section of the escape pod hall before the bullet tore at the repulsor systems of Goobot's suit, sending him flying to the far end of the corridor where he slammed harshly into a wall, disabling him for the time being. The file had fallen harmlessly to the ground before the escape pod.

In a mad dash, Eustace attempted to reach the file. He would've succeeded if it weren't for Jimmy who had tackled him from behind and knocked him forward. The two rolled onto their feet. Jimmy soon came face-to-face with the barrel of Eustace's revolver.

"Well, well, James old chap," Eustace said with a sickening glee, a deranged twinkle in his eyes. "Looks like we have quite a situation at hand."

Jimmy ignored Eustace and instead focused on the gun barrel pressed against his forehead. "Nice ear," Jimmy snapped, commenting on his advesary's ear injury in order to distract Eustace in even the least bit so that he could even hope to survive.

Eustace was not amused, however, and retorted, "Yes, I believe it was one of your people's doing, or at least that of your ally's people. You were always an amusing character, old chap, but I have things to do, places to be, countries to conquer." He cocked back the hammer of the revolver. "Goodbye, Jimmy. I'll see you in Hell." Jimmy squeezed his eyes shut for the inevitable pull of the trigger and the loud silence that would accompany it.

"JIMMY!" Cindy cried as she came around the corner just in time to see Eustace prepare to pull the trigger.

Jimmy's eyes opened and shifted towards Cindy one last time before Eustace pulled the trigger.

_CLICK_

Jimmy's eyebrows furrowed. 'Click?' he thought. 'Guns don't go 'click' they go 'bang!' He soon realized that the gun had been empty. Eustace had come across the same realization and dropped the revolver, opting instead for picking up the file and running into the esacpe pod. Eustace punched in a random destination into the command console as the escape pod door began to close behind him.

Jimmy snapped into action before the escape pod's doors closed shut. Putting his arm through the door, he must have activated an emergency stop and release function on the door mechanism as the ooor proceeded to reopen, allowing Jimmy to throw Eustace out of the escape pod by the collar. The file remained in the escape pod

Eustace recovered quickly from the throw and pounced on Jimmy, pinning him against the wall before headbutting once, then twice. Jimmy felt the warmth of his blood slide down his chin as he ducked to avoid the third headbutt which caused Eustace to pound Yolkian steel. Eustace recoiled slightly and before he could recover, he was met with Jimmy's hook to the face.

The Englishman staggered backwards before hitting the wall. Jimmy swung a mighty uppercut into Eustace's gut, causing him to double-over. Eustace counterattacked with a cheap shot to the ribs followed by a left hook across the face. Jimmy spun slightly and lightly hit the wall before bouncing back to nail Eustace flat in the face, fracturing his nose in several places, blood flowing down his nose as well.

The two backed away from each other before Eustace charged Jimmy once again. Shoulder charging him into the wall, Eustace began to punch Jimmy in the ribs in rapid succession. Jimmy tensed himself, trying to absorb the punches long enough so that he could find an opening. He gave up and swung a random hook at Eustace's face. The hook connected and sent the boy sideways. Jimmy couldn't even catch his breath before Eustace was on him again, swinging long, tired hooks straight at Jimmy who was able to dodge most of them, a few catching him in the ribs a few times. Finally, Jimmy jabbed Eustace in the chest followed by an uppercut to the chin. BOth combatants spaced themselves from each other.

Jimmy then remembered the pistol still in the holster by his hip. The second he reached for it, Eustace realized the trouble he was in and tackled Jimmy into the wall. The pistol clattered to the floor between them. Both fighters jumped for the pistol, grappling with it as even as they tried to stand, each pushing the pistol towards one another in hopes of blowing the other's brains out.

Out of Jimmy's peripheral vision during the tussel, he saw Cindy with her own pistol out, trying to adjust her aim so that she got a good, clean shot at Eustace, but the way the fight was going, that wasn't going to be easy. Next to her, he was glad to see Shaojia standing there, alive, shaken but alive. He was doing the same thing Cindy was, attempting to try and find a way where he could get a clear shot to kill Eustace that wouldn't end up killing Jimmy instead.

Soon, Eustace was able to push the gun towards Jimmy. Jimmy attempted to resist but Eustace countered by turning it towards Cindy. Jimmy's eyes widened in alarm as he struggled with every muscle in his being to will the gun away, but the angle was just too much for him. "Cindy, get out of the way!" Eustace had pushed the pistol far enough so that it could aim at Cindy. Eustace pulled the trigger, but Jimmy had pushed the gun back towards Eustace at the last second and the bullet high and hit a point over Cindy's head.

Jimmy then snapped back to his one-on-one fight with his enemy when Eustace pushed the pistol roughly towards Jimmy. He retaliated by spinning with the thrust and slamming Eustace's arm and the pistol hard against the wall. Unforunately, that caused the gun to discharge. Shaojia fell backwards again as the bullet connected with his chest, the KEVLAR bulletproof vest saving him, but the dual gunshots were still too much for one day. He fell with a surprised, 'Gah!' Cindy went to assist him, much to Jimmy's relief. Now both of them were out of their field of fire, perhaps a bit too late for Shaojia, but at least he had a bulletproof vest.

Jimmy swung his elbow back behind him and connected with Eustace's mouth. When Eustace's hold on the pistol still did not yield, Jimmy forced his full body weight onto the arm and swung his elbow out again, this time connecting with Eustace's temple. Eustace recoiled, his hold on the pistol loosened so that it fell on the ground, discharging another shot that richocheted harmlessly at a wall. He backed up slightly before tripping over his own two feet in front of the escape pod.

Again, their adrenaline levels spiked as they recognized their most dire objectives. Jimmy grabbed the pistol off of the ground as Eustace began to limp into the escape pod. Jimmy limped over to the escape pod in return. He grabbed the pistol tightly as he tried to bring up, but felt that he couldn't bring it up all the way and he didn't try to as the escape pod doors began to hiss, signifying they were about to close. Time was running out.

Jimmy fired.

Eustace arched his back and cried in pain as the bullet tore into his lower spine just above his tailbone. Eustace slumped forward and his head smacked with a thud against the escape pod's control console. The door snapped shut. A low rumble was felt through the floor as the escape pod's thrusters started. In seconds, the escape pod had launched out of its dock and straight towards space at such an alarming speed that it ripped through the fabric of space and entered the net of interstellar space travel, off to some unknown destination.

Hoping that the escape pod was heading towards some star that would assist in Eustace's instant cremation, Jimmy slumped against the wall, blood flowing down his chin, a smoking pistol held firmly in his hand, and he fell unconscious.

* * *

"Jimmy!" Cindy cried as she left Shaojia's side to join Jimmy's. She had watched the whole fist fight in all its gore and had kept her distance from it unless Jimmy needed help. Now, since it was over, Jimmy really needed help. She threw her helmet away and ran towards him. When she arrived at his side, blood was still flowing freely from his nose and a black eye was visible on his right eye. Accompanied with the burn scar he had recieved a couple of nights ago, Jimmy looked like a genuine soldier, complete with battle disfigurements and all. 

"Damn, that's one Hell of a shiner," Shaojia commented as he walked over to where Jimmy and Cindy were. Jimmy slowly began to come to and saw Shaojia pat down his KEVLAR. "Ah, I love this thing. Keeps me alive longer."

Jimmy chuckled slightly and commented, "Yeah, two shots in the chest would kill a normal person."

Shaojia chuckled back. "Well, it turns out that Enforcers ain't normal people."

Jimmy looked over at the vacant escape pod tube. "He got away, didn't he?"

Shaojia and Cindy both looked at the empty tube. "No, didn't you hit him before it launched?"

Jimmy furrowed his eyebrows before nodding. "I think. I remembered that I pulled the trigger, it hit him in the lower back, and then his head hit the launch button."

Shaojia nodded in satisfaction. "Eh, maybe you severed his spine. If you didn't, he'll die anyways from blood loss. Good job." He looked over at the explosion stain from where Goobot had ended up meeting his demise. Ironically enough, it was a bullet from his own ally that sent the Yolkian king careening into the wall at an incredible speed so that he could not survive the ensuing blast. Bits of goo littered the crash site. "A really good job." Shaojia lent Jimmy a hand. "Can you walk?"

Jimmy groaned as he tried to get up, ending up having to use Shaojia's hand to pull himself up. He cringed as he tried to walk. "A little," he replied weakly.

Shaojia shook his head. "Take your time and get your ass down the stairs. I'm gonna go ahead and see if I can get everything under control, if it isn't already. Good job back there, Jimmy. Your parents oughtta be proud." With that, Shaojia turned to exit the escape pod hall through the doorway that led out to the main palace. In the brief moment that the door opened for him, fierce gunfire, explosions, and yelling could be heard as the epic battle raged throughout the palace and its grounds. Then, silence as the door closed behind him.

The soft whir of the escape pods' controls and mechanisms were the only sounds in the hall. Jimmy took a deep breath as he leaned against the wall. "Come on," he said, "we better get going."

Cindy smiled knowingly. She looked at Jimmy's face. All of the injuries on his face, the bleeding nose, the black eye, the burn scar, all of them showed an inner age several times greater than his actual age. The weariness on his face cancelled out the youthfulness his face still slightly possessed. All in all, Cindy was split; half of her was thrilled about this new personality and the bolder decisions that it may cause Jimmy to make about their relationship and his revised future in general while the other half of her was filled with fear and disappointment that a part of Jimmy, an innocent, kind part of him, had been lost forever.

Jimmy noticed her looking at him and asked softly, "What is it?"

Cindy swallowed a lump in her throat as she looked back at his face. An ageless windom showed in it coupled with a forever youthful expression of calm serenity from knowing that their enemies were now out of the picture. Now, all the had to do was release their parents from the dungeons. She then shook her head and laid her head on Jimmy's chest. "Nothing, nothing at all."

Jimmy smiled externally as he held Cindy tightly to him. Internally, however, his mind was ablaze with angry shouts at the pain caused by him hugging Cindy so tightly to his battered chest. "Come on, I can't wait to tell our parents."

* * *

Shaojia yawned as he stepped over several Yolkian soldier shells, or rather, what was left of them. During the firefight in the escape pod hall, it seems as if his men that had inserted on the 25th Floor had done a very good job sweeping up the Yolkian soldiers and guards around the area. Only occasionally did he see a W-12 body lying on the ground. Other than that, the walk down the stairs of the Yolkian was mundane and boring. 

He paused slightly to look down the side of the flight of stairs as soldiers rushed past him. His soldiers had formed an effective barrier guarding the palace against entry from the Yolkian Loyalists whilst letting the Rebels, all in black armor and apparel with black streaks across their domes under their eyes. In essence, they literally looked like commandos.

He shook his head as he continued to go down the stairs. The fighting was now centralized in the vast lobby of the Yolkian palace, probably where Goobot would occasionally hold his parties, press conferences, and the like. Shaojia was pleased to see that there were no human bodies on the floor of the lobby, meaning overall casualty counts were at a record low for the current war.

He reached the ground floor soon and was greeted by Major Chaoyue from Company A. "Major, where the Hell were your men? I told you to secure the escape pods."

The major bowed his head and apologized. "Sorry, sir, but we couldn't find it. I think our ally's intelligence was a little faulty on that detail."

Shaojia rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "What else is new?" he muttered. Then he said, "Give me a sitrep; how many casualties on our side and how's the battle going?"

"It's going very well, sir," Major Chaoyue replied. "So far, we've counted only 5 wounded and 15 dead, and considering the fact that this is a war and we're in a palace filled with enemies, that's pretty good."

Shaojia arched his eyebrows in inner delight. That was very good. "And what about the hostages? Have you found them?"

Chaoyue simply replied, "The Yolks beat us to it. Rebels are on their way down to the basement with one of my demo squads and three escort squads to help free the prisoners." He pointed to a hidden staircase hidden behind one of the pillars leading into the building. A squad of soldiers guarded the entrance as others fired around them, trying to keep the Loyalists at bay and letting the Rebels through to do whatever it was they wanted to do. Subtle explosions rocked the palace as mortars hit the ground."

Shaojia nodded. "Very good. Keep me posted, Major. Oh, and have our Rebel friends tell the Loyalists that Goobot and Strych have been taken care of."

Chaoyue bowed and saluted. "Will do, sir."

Sighing, Shaojia walked over to the edge of the water fountain in middle of the lobby were several Yolkian shells and shell fragments lay around scattered about. He sat on the edge and watched the battle when he spotted all members of the N-12 Enforcer Legion.lined up, firing randomly at some Yolkian soldiers that were close enough. He then spotted out of the edge of his peripheral vision Jimmy and Cindy going down the stairs, Jimmy walking a little bit easier since he had a little bit of rest.

Shaojia then looked over to the N-12 troops. One of them, Nick, noticed Jimmy coming down the stairs, limping. "Hey, there he is!" he yelled and the entire force walked/ran towards their commanders. "Dang, General, you look worse than Ike did when Butch catapulted him off of the see-saw."

Butch scratched his head and retorted, "Hey, that only happened once!" He then smirked. "It was funny, too."

Jimmy shook his head and smiled. "Looks like things are getting back to normal." He then looked into the crowd and saw Sheen, T, and Libby making their way to the front. "Hey, looks like we're all here, huh?"

Sheen nodded with a stupid grin on his face. "Yep! Libby said that we should probably wait for you guys before we go down to see our parents."

Libby smiled and walked over to hug Cindy. "I'm glad you're alright. What happened? Did Jimmy kill them?"

Jimmy shook his head. "I was only able to shoot Eustace in the back before his escape pod shot off and Eustace was the one that killed Goobot."

"Eustace killed Goobot?" Libby asked incredulously. By now, the entire N-12 force was focused on Jimmy and had made a small circle around him.

Jimmy nodded. He was about to speak when Shaojia walked toward him and gestured toward the hidden staircase Major Chaoyue had pointed out to him. The squad of soldiers had stepped to the side and several Rebel Yolkians came up followed by a long line of Yolkian soldiers, their hands in the air, their electrostaffs absent. After them, two squads of W-12 Enforcers held them up at gunpoint. Following them, a frightening line of slim, starving, and dehydrated humans came out followed by the last Enforcer squad bringing up the rear.

"Mom?! Dad?!" This was the more-or-less universal cry of all of the N-12 soldiers as they rushed over to their parents and embraced them while the other single adults like Sam, Principal Willoughby, and Ms. Fowl just walked around in a daze before plopping down, tired, hungry, and confused. Jimmy looked around for his parents and found his parents, Hugh and Judy Neutron, lying down on the ground in a frightened and confused daze as gunfire continued on and explosions rocked the ground.

He approached them softly, unsure of how they'd react to seeing him. His face was badly disfigured, bruises and dried, crusted up blood all over along with the burn scar on his right eye. He no longer looked like the boy they had once raised. A part of him feared that they wouldn't recognize him.

Luckily for him, though, they did. "Jim-Jam?" his father muttered as he looked up slightly from the ground and propped himself up on his elbows. "Hey, Sugar-Plum, it's Jimmy!"

His mom groaned lightly and looked up, leaning on her husband for support. "J-Jimmy?" she muttered weakly as she tried to stay conscious. "Jimmy..." she then exhaled in relief. "My boy... My baby..."

Jimmy smiled, feeling the slight prickling of tears at the corners of his eyes as he approached his parents and fell to his knees between them, grabbing them in a tight embrace. "I missed you guys."

"We missed you, too, Jimmy," Judy replied softly as she stroked Jimmy's greasy and coarse hair. "What's going on? Why do you look like a soldier and why do I hear guns and explosions?"

"I'll explain to you later, Mom," Jimmy said as he looked over to Shaojia. "Hey, do you have any-"

Shaojia tossed a canteen and 4 packs of crackers. "Standard kit, always fresh and restocked in every commando uniform."

Jimmy nodded and gave the crackers and canteen to his parents. "Thanks. You think we can call in an _Infiltrator_? We need to get everyone back to the ships for treatment."

"Shouldn't be too hard," Shaojia commented as he looked outside.

Jimmy followd his gaze. The skies were clear and a white flag was being flown from the central plaza. Jimmy stood up slightly and walked forward a bit to get a better look. The central plaza was about 50 yards away from the palace. In it, a large mass of Yolkian soldiers were hovering in place, hands raised, and what appeared to be a Yolkian general raising the white flag.

His eyebrows arched in shock and surprise. He looked over at Shaojia. "We won?"

Shaojia nodded and held out his hand. "Congrats, Jimmy, you've got a 1-0 war streak going on there."

Jimmy smiled as he looked back at his parents. "Looks like things do turn out good in the end afterall, huh?"

* * *

Jimmy sat on an infirmary bed between his parents' beds. Next to him, Cindy sat as well, her eyes puffy and red, her face pressed hard into Jimmy's chest. It seemed as if not everyone could afford a happy ending. While most people had all of their parents returned to them alive, it seemed that Cindy's mother was the only one that couldn't take Yolkian imprisonment. 

The infirmary was a rather depressing sight. All around the infirmary wounded child soldiers lay in hospital beds as mechanical doctors checked up on them now and again. Their squad and platoonmates had visited before but had long gone to bed after several arduous hours and days of constant war.

The rest of the infirmary was filled with the adults the Yolkians had imprisoned, all of them on IVs, feeding tubes, and the other necessary equpiment needed to make sure the adults had all of their nutrients and health back after so many days of starvation. Along with the adults were the children. Like a regular hospital during the rush hours of visiting time, each patient had at least one child attending to them who were all very tired and were asleep. Not far from them, Libby and T were sleeping next to their parents' bunks while Sheen was sitting in a chair and slept with his head on his father's shoulder.

It was around 1 AM, or oh-1-hundred in military speak. Several hours prior, the Enforcers had all packed their bags and gone back onto the ships, the fallen W-12 soldiers picked up and returned to their loved ones in the Imperial City back in the realm of the Enforcers. They had left the Yolkians to sign their own damn treaties and settle the rest of their messes. They just agreed to never mess with Earth again and as far as Jimmy was concerned, that was good enough for him.

The _Infiltrators_ had dropped down and allowed for everyone to begin to board. Several extras were dispatched for the adults and the other wounded along with one for the dead Enforcers. Shaojia had told him that as soon as they left Yolkian atmosphere, a clean-up crew will be sent from Enforcer Central High Command (ECHC) to help stablize the Yolkian government and get the aliens used to positive human interaction.

A similar clean-up crew was being sent in to help prepare the damaged Retroville for the return of its inhabitants, their role specifically being to get rid of any bodies, clean up all shells, and fix any war damages along with convince government agencies about a few key details on whatever happened. Long story short, as far as anyone was concerned, the Enforcers did not tell them the truth about mankind and the importance of the Enforcer, they did not tell them to mark Retroville as a high-priority city during times of crisis, they did not tell them to reconstruct the military base near Retroville and inforum several divisions of the Army that they were now a part of the N-12 Enforcer Legion, headed by a 12-year old boy, they did not tell the government to tell the press to tell the public that the bright lights, explosions, and falling debris from space were a result of two asteriods collding with one another, and the Enforcers most certainly did not exist at all whatsoever. Knowing the US government, such a cover-up shouldn't have been too difficult to pull.

Jimmy was now basically a second president, so said Shaojia when he had explained the occurences too him. He had an unspoken power over the President of the United States, a good percentage of the Army was now part of the N-12 Enforcer Legion, and that the paychecks would be ready for everyone in 1 work week.

Jimmy looked down at Cindy and stroked her golden blonde hair gently. "Cindy?" he said softly.

"Mmm..." she muttered, pressing her face harder into his chest. He cringed slightly but hugged her tighter.

"If you want," he said, "you can live with me and my family. You can get to know my folks, and we'll be together."

Cindy said nothing. Slowly, though, she positioned herself from being beside Jimmy to being on top of Jimmy's lap, hugging his neck, and pressing only the side of her face into the red T-shirt he had changed back into. "Jimmy?" she whispered, so quietly that he had barely heard her.

"Yeah?" Jimmy whispered back as he continued to stroke her blonde hair lovingly.

"I love you."

"I know."

* * *

Shaojia sat in the meeting room of the _Fury of the Gods_ while the other 15 generals and admirals of W-12 filled the seats. It was early morning, around oh-6-hundred. Beside him was Quanbei and Meiling, who still looked sleepy but trying respectfully to be awake. They no longer wore the Chinese armor of the commando suits. Now, they appeared like diplomats, politicians, leaders. Meiling, looking sleepy but trying respectfully to be awake. 

Before him, an official parchment with several Chinese characters already scrawled on it. Shaojia picked up the calligraphy pen and continued to write as the others watched on. Minutes passed until he was finished. Then, he picked it up and read it.

(As an Enforcer, I have fought hard for my universe and for the safety of all under Heaven. I have led the armies of my realm into battle and have come out victorious with the help of my fellow generals and admirals, my colonels and captains, my major and luitenants, my sergeants and my corporals, and my endlessly devoted privates. I have fought along side them, with them, and for them, and for their families and their loved ones.)

(I have received an order from our lord, the Jade Emperor Himself, that I am to retire temporarily so that I can end the death and destruction that is still happening in our home. As you all know, China has fallen into desperate struggle which claimed the lives of both my mother and father, emperor and empress of the Chang Dynasty which usurped the Qing quickly after they usurped the Ming. Politician after politician has tried to keep the Chang intact, but so far no one has lived long enough to even get a blessing from the gods, thus they do not have Heaven's Mandate.)

(I have been ordered to return to our home and take back the throne. I will then seek to rejoin China under a fair and just dynasty, the likes of which the rulers of the Old Ming would be jealous of. I seek to reunite the kingdoms of Northern and Southern Chang, Tang, and Ming under the single banner of the Shen Dynasty, in tribute to our lords and in message that through me, the gods will exhibit their will. I shall rule as they have intended. I shall rule as their vassle to the peoples of W-12. However, in times of extreme crisis, I will be pulled back into the field to take place before being exiled once again afterwards.)

He pulled Meiling closer to him. (I also seek to have a more normal life, to be with the woman of my dreams and to raise my children with her, but all in due time. For once, we don't know something that the gods also don't know. Trouble is coming, and none of us know what. A black cloud is hanging over our heads as we speak, growing in power as time goes on. We may not even live long enough to see these dark events fall into place. So, the gods have granted me my wish, that along with reuniting China, I am to live as a normal being an extend the lineage of our universe's chosen protector.)

(In my place, I appoint General Tsung Wulong of the Southern Chang and the Family Tsung as de facto Grand General until I have accomplished this new mission. So now, I, Wang Shaojia of the Northern Chang and the Family Wang, son of the Emperor Taiquan and the Empress Lan, step down temporarily as Grand General of W-12 until the reunification of China has been successful and I have born 3 children.)

There was applause as Shaojia stamped the Imperial Seal onto the document. It was now official. As of now, he was no longer an Enforcer.

Quanbei now stood up. He spoke with the same tone as Shaojia and held another piece of parchment. (By Blood Oath, I am bound to my friend and brother Wang Shaojia. I also seek to retire from Enforcer service to assist him in his unification of the Chinese Kingdoms. This Era of Resurrected Kingdoms has cost many a life and ruined many a household. It is because of this war that so many children such as us find ourselves fighting alongside adults, wielding nuclear arms and machine guns.)

(So, with no further ado, I, Tian Quanbei of the Northern Chang and the Family Tian, hereby retire as well to join my Blood Brother in the fields of combat in our homeland.)

Tian's speech was also met with applause as he stamped the parchment with his personal seal. Shaojia cleared his throat. "We'll give the troops the news in about a month." He saluted. "Dismissed." They saluted back and all but Tian filtered out of the room. Shaojia turned to Tian. "That was a gutsy move, Quanbei, stepping down, too. I don't exactly trust Tsung, you know."

"I know," his oath brother told him. Tian looked at Meiling whom had fallen back to sleep against Shaojia's chest. "But I have a wife you know, and I want to be with her too. She's planning on resigning in a little while, too, like a lot of Enforcers. Time to make some room for the younger soldiers. Besides, Tsung's still under the gods' authority. They don't like him, they'll can his ass and give someone else the job."

Shaojia smiled slightly as he looked at Meiling. "Hey, do me a favor and turn on that screen. Give me a visual from our forward camera." Tian did as he was asked and turned on the camera. There, Earth, in all her splendid glory, shone bright in the light of the sun. The debris from the space battle days before had been cleared by the clean-up crew and the crews were probably cleaning up Retroville by now. "You know, I really am going to miss this."

Tian scoffed. "Yeah, me too. What do you think you'll miss the most? Nearly getting your head chopped off, nearly getting burned alive, getting shot in the chest twice, getting filled with bullets and surviving, nearly getting killed by mutants, nearly getting nuked, nearly getting-"

Shaojia chuckled wryly. "Alright, I get it." He continued to watch the screen as his ship glided through space slowly. Then, out of the edge of the screen, a small ball of burning light streaked across the screen, entering Earth's atmosphere, and appeared to make contact somewhere in Asia. "The Hell was that?"

Tian shrugged. "Eh, probably an asteroid."

Shaojia shook his head. "Probably, but I seriouly doubt it."

* * *

**The Afterthought:**

Author: Well, there you go, people! The last chapter of Military Science!

Jimmy: What do you mean 'the last chapter'?! What's gonna happen to me and Cindy? What was the asteroid thingy?! How will life be after the war?!?!

Shaojia: Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?! (Is playing that old ass computer game) Damn you, you red-haied bitch! Come on, I know you're here somewhere! A-ha! 'Land of the Rising Sun,' eh? Tian, nuke France!

Quanbei: Brother, you're either deranged or stupid. I think the game meant Japan.

Shaojia: Nope! It definitely meant Antartica.

Quanbei: Wait, just a second ago, you said to nuke-

Shaojia: (Falling down from the sky with a nuke underneath him, riding it like a horse) Yee-haw!

Author: Cheney! (Cheney shoots warning shot in the air. A 747 falls down and lands on him.) Ahem, no. All of you are wrong! For that, none of you will be starring in Rush Hour 4, or Military Science II.

Cindy: There's a sequel?!

Author: Dammit! Well, so much for the surprise. Somebody take the poll on my profile and review. Somebody get me a sandwich! If anyone needs me, I'll be in my trailer.

(Walks off a cliff)

Author: Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!! This is totally going to delay the series of one-shots that explains some things addressed beforeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!

(Author go SPLAT)

Cindy: Well, that's our show, folks. It's been a fun ride while its lasted. In the next 'chapter,' we'll have a list of all of our faithful reviewers who have given us so much support since this story has started. Thanks everyone!


	22. CREDITS

**--CREDITS--**

**I'd like to thank all of these loyal reviewers for sticking with me and this story until the very end! You guys are awesome!**

kittiegirliebella101

acosta perez jose ramiro

aShen aUrora

i'm an exister

Half-elf

GeniusGirl1010

MidnightSuburbia

mrmuscle

retroville9

**Thanks guys for tagging along for the ride! I'd also like to thank these behind-the-scene players for helping out with ideas and just being there.**

My friend Wendy--Helped to edit and gave me some input and suggestions

My lil' sis Emily--Responsible for making this story fluffier than Gabriel Iglesias

My cousin James (you're still a jackass, though)--Stunt, Fight Scene, and Action Choreographer

My girlfriend Ling--For being with me for so long and just for being her

And all of my homeboys in my crew, Ray, Josh, Tre, Robert, Andrew, Adam, Fong, Tony, Chase, Jason, Dustin, Brandon, Bryant, Justin, Brian, Mely, and all y'all other people I can't remember--Just for being my homeboys. Keep on reppin' H-Town, fellas!

**And of course, I've gotta pay my legal royalties.**

Nickelodeon--Aired the show of which this story was based off of

John A. Davis--Creator of the Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius

**Disclaimer: I do not and I never will own Jimmy Neutron. However, I call dibs on this story! Thanks for everything guys, see ya in the sequel!**

**PS: I will be changing my username from Naraku's Reincarnation to Imperial Fiction which will reflect a better personality that the writer of all future stories from this account are actual a team of writers comprised of myself, my sister, and my cousin.**


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